Road Trip
by NCIS-Ninja
Summary: Sequel to Rude Awakening. Buffy and Faith take on a road trip that change their lives forever. As a couple, they face every problem they've ever had, and some new ones. Involves some VERY suggestive themes, and same sex relationships.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Notes: Okay, so this is the sequel to Rude Awakening. It's only the first of many chapters. This is an alternate ending to the final scene of the original fic. Buffy's decision changes in this one. If you didn't read the first fic, this one won't make much sense. Also, This does deal with two girls in a relationship doing some sexy stuff, so if you don't like that, don't read. The main focus of this fic is to take on almost everything that occured between Buffy and Faith as they continue on their road trip to no where. If you have any ideas, or suggestions of what you'd want to see addressed or happen, message me or review with your ideas. Thanks.

XOXOXOX

Pain never bothered Buffy. Inflicting pain never bothered Faith, even if it was on Buffy, because she knew when to stop. She knew how much Buffy, and even how much she could take. It was raining steadily now, not a downpour, but enough to make the girls happy that the bench was under an enclosure.

"You pulled the knife, with my my hands on it... Into your stomach... And you never heard what I said."

"What did you say?" Faith was looking at the wet ground through the dark of the night.

"I love you." Buffy said with sniffle.

"I hated doing it." Faith said, both of them still looking at the ground. The only contact was their hands clawed together between them. "I hated shooting Angel... It made me feel horrible, taking away what made you happy."

"We weren't happy when you shot him." Buffy started to feel the pain in her hand and turned to Faith.

"God, sorry, Buffy." She said, releasing her grip. There was only some red marks, no blood, "So where is Angel now?"

"L.A. Which is one city we aren't going to." Buffy made sure that much was clear.

"Why?"

"Because Angel will find out we're coming, and will come down to see us. Then you guys will start fighting, and one of you will end up dead or dust." Buffy looked Faith in the eyes.

"I would love to dust that bastard." Faith said with a certain amount of rage.

"Which is why we're going to the East Coast."

"We are?" Faith said with another pop of her gum.

"Well, only if you want." Buffy said shyly.

"I knew you'd say that eventually. Couldn't stay a hard-ass for long."

There was a moment of silence when they looked at each other. The rain created a sound of constant pattering. There was a far ouf rumble that grew into a roar as the bus pulled up to the station, and the door opened.

XOXOXOX

"Hey, Buffy." Angel said, walking into the hotel room.

"Angel! How did you get here?" Buffy said, sitting up in the bed next to Faith, who was comfortably asleep.

"Oh, I was already here. Waiting for you two." Angel replied, walking towards the bed.

"I'm only in my bra and underwear, maybe I should put something on." Buffy said. She started to move, only to realize she was bound in place to the bed. There were no ropes, but she was paralyzed in place there. Unable to move.

"Won't be necessary." He gave and evil grin as he took Faith's head, forcing her to wake up.

"Angel?" Buffy said, trying to move towards Faith.

"Remember this?" He said, kissing Faith deeply. Faith grabbed at his chest, trying to push him away. The memories came flooding back like knives slicing through Buffy's heart. She watched as Angel held Faith into the kiss, his lips forcing themselves upon Faith's. She pushed him away, trying to fight him off, but her struggle was in vain. Faith's eyes fogged up and Angel eventually broke the kiss.

"Remember when the mayor made her do this? Remember seeing your two exes kiss?" He taunted, as Faith struggled to force him away from her. Suddenly, the bed seemed longer, and she wasn't close enough to Faith to help her.

"What if I hurt her? Right here in front of you? What if I made her scream with pain?" He took out a knife and put it to her throat, "Or what if I did something even worse?"

"Buffy!" Faith screamed as Angel climbed on top of her.

"What if you had to watch me hurt her that bad? What if I cut her up and made her bleed, but you had to sit there and know it was your fault. I could do things to her that were worse than death. She is a woman after all." Angel said, stroking Faith's face as squirmed. He leaned over and kissed Faith, the knife still at her throat.

"I will destroy you." He said to Faith, "I'll hurt you and make your girlfriend watch."

"Angel! Don't! Please! Faith!" Buffy tried to reach forward to grab her and save her as Angel kissed her again.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled, trying to reach the blonde Slayer desperately, but Angel held her too tightly.

"Buffy!" Faith whispered.

Buffy opened her eyes and instantly felt sweaty and flushed in the darkness. She was under the covers of the bed in the hotel room with Faith's arms wrapped around her. No Angel. No knife, just her and Faith.

"Hey, calm down, baby. I'm right here, B." Faith whispered into her ear. She felt Faith hold her firmly and kiss the back of her head. Faith was running her fingers through Buffy's hair and shushing her softly. Buffy stopped struggling once she realized where she was and who was holding her. Her heart was beating as the images of Angel crushing Faith down filled her mind, but it suddenly felt absurd. Her mind spun in swirls of terrifying thoughts and grim images. Faith, Angel, Angel, Faith... Buffy. Her pulse races, but she felt a calm in the middle of the storm as a gentle hand carressed her.

"That's right, I'm here. Just a dream." Faith soothingly spoke comforting words.

Buffy felt Faith's strength comforting her. The reminder that her love was too strong to be held down by soulful vampire and force to endure torture. Angel was totally out of character too. He would never do any of those things to Faith, right. Her heart was crashing against her ribcage, but slowly mellowed to a quick thrumming. Her pulse regained a normal pace, and her mind cleared up to the reality around her.

"Buffy. Are you okay?" Faith said once Buffy had settled down.

"Just a really scary dream, Fay." Buffy replied, rolling over to see Faith face-to-face.

"About what?" Faith asked as she wiped some sweat away from Buffy's brow.

"Angel." Buffy said. Faith instantly tensed up.

"He's not here, whatever he did in there, he can't hurt you. I won't let him lay a finger on my Buffy." Faith comforted Buffy. Faith ran her fingers up and down Buffy's back as they lay in the hotel room.

"I wasn't the one he was going to hurt." Buffy whispered.

"...Me?" Faith asked.

Buffy nodded, trying not to cry.

"Must've been bad if you're gonna cry. It's fine." Faith took Buffy's hand and pressed it up against her own side, "See, I'm still here. I'm okay."

Buffy curled up into Faith, trying not to cry. Faith held her close, reassuring the blonde Slayer of her safety. Faith shushed Buffy and kissed her head again. After a little while, Buffy had calmed down completely and spoke, "Faith, would you have actually hurt me? You know, when Angel was fake Angelus?"

"The point was never to hurt you. I could never have done that. The point was to fake you out. We knew that Angel was faking Angelus, and the mayor wanted my full loyalty with him. He didn't want me serving two masters. He rigged it so you guys would find out who I'm working for." Faith stroked the back of Buffy's head and held her close, smelling the shampoo Buffy had used.

"Oh. So it was all just for show?" Buffy asked, her head tucked under Faith's.

"Of course... I was angry at you... But there was no way I could have hurt you. I still loved you. No matter who I slept with or kissed, you were always in my mind." She said, "Damn, I made a lot of mistakes."

"I'm just glad to know you still loved me." Buffy kissed Faith's collarbone.

"You're still really tense, B." Faith noticed.

"Would you help with that?" Buffy looked up at her and grinned.

Faith reached behind Buffy and touched her back, lightly running her fingers around her muscles in circles and stars and squares. She kiss Buffy gently, nipping at her lower lip. She pulled back and kissed at Buffy's neck, lightly sucking on her pulse point, which made Buffy suck in some air.

"Breath... you're trying to relax here, B." Faith whispered in Buffy's ear. She reached down and took Buffy's hips, pulling the smaller girl right up against her in the bed.

"Not so easy when you're trying eat my neck." Buffy groaned.

"Like this?" Faith bit down lightly on Buffy's pulse point. Buffy whimpered at the feeling.

"Yeah, like that." Buffy said with a smile.

"Whatever happened to veing vanilla, B?" Faith chuckled darkly as she went back to Buffy's neck.

XOXOXOX

Author's Notes: So that pretty much explains the first of many Road Trip adventures Buffy and Faith will have. The big problem between them is still what happened with Angel. I think that unraveling that will be the biggest overall plot for this fic, and I have lots of ideas that are forming a story. Once again, review or message me with any ideas or comments or questions.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Okeydokey, so about Angel, I mean no bad feelings to Angel fans. I'm kind of using Angel as an embodiement of Faith and Buffy's fears. You should always read into everything that I write. Usually there are hints to things that will grow into more in the future. Also, I usually put one up everyday, but I've got a lot to sift through, so it may be a bit spazzy for now. I'll try to get one every two days at the most. Here it goes:

- One Year Ago -

Buffy left Faith's apartment rejuvenated and on an energy high she got every time she spent the night with Faith. Faith was like an addicting drug that put her on a jolt. She kinda skimmed her school work so she could spend time day dreaming in class, but completely kicked ass in Gym Class. She climbed the rope to the ceiling twice, and ran a mile in record time. She was insanely energized. She felt as though her body were light and could just fly. The entire day, Xander was sure that she was on some sort drug.

Unfortunately, every high has it's end, leaving her feeling really low. When she saw Faith that night for patrol, she was overly happy. Buffy nearly tackled Faith trying to hug her.

"You're happy to see me?" Faith said, regaining her balance and hugging Buffy back.

"Yeah. I missed you, Faith. I always miss you." Buffy said. She gave her an almost friendly quick-kiss, and started walking towards the graveyard.

They took out a few vamps, but that wasn't the higlight of the night. When they had finished their route around the graveyard twice and stopped at the bench.

XOXOXOX

Cordelia walked out of her house and across the heated driveway. She got in her car and cursed her dad for forgeting to get her dress for tomorrow. She drove out, staring at the past midnight time on her car clock. Cordelia would on any other night have just drove straight past the graveyard under any other circumstances, but tonight, something very interesting was happening in the graveyard. For some reason, Buffy Summers was kissing Faith Lehane. Being the procuring of gossip that she was, Cordilia parked somewhere close enough by so that she could hear what they said, but not get seen. She rolled down the window, shut off the car a eavesdropped. She saw Faith glance at her, but she must have been looking at something else, because she turned back and whispered to Buffy.

"Strangely, graveyards really turn me on." Buffy's fingers with laced together behind Faith's neck.

"Being with you turns me on." Faith said, intentionally making her voice huskier.

"I think I'm addicted to you, Fay. Everytime we have sex, I feel this energy buzz the next day. It's amazing." Buffy said.

"Really? I have to go do something else or I keep thinking about it." Faith tilted her head a few degrees.

"We could do it now. Here." Buffy suggested.

"Not a great idea, B. What if a vamp jumps us?" Faith chuckled.

"Good point. Well, my mom's home so, we can't do it at my place." Bufy took her hands away from Faith's neck and ran them over her stomach.

"Guess that means my place, tonight." Faith kissed Buffy again, fire exploded from their lips and tongues like always. They started moving for some reason. They just aimlessly staggered. They wandered closer to Cordelia's car and never seperated for a second. They got closer and suddenly, in a flash, Faith had the keys to the car that were in the transmission, and Buffy was leaning against the window, smiling at Cordelia. Cordelia looked at her transmission and realized she was up against two Slayers.

"Busted." Buffy grinned.

"You Slayers are fast." Cordelia said, partial stunned that it took mere seconds for them to get to this point.

"We're a team." Buffy nodded towards Faith.

"In more than one thing." Cordelia mumbled, "If the school hears about Buffy Summers kissing another girl..."

"Lucky us, nobody's gonna find out. Or you're walking home tonight." Faith said casually, "Look, I know you're more aquainted with Buffy here, but I can tell you're more afraid of me."

Faith leaned in through the window, the hand clutching the keys still outside of the car, until she was in Cordelia's comfort zone.

"Are you?" Faith whispered, "Do I scare you?"

Cordelia nodded.

"Don't sound too sure. You know, I could kill you and make it look like an accident if I wanted. You had a speed accident late at night, sound good? Maybe drinking?" Faith smirked staring at the fear blossoming in Cordelia's eyes, "I could make sure nobody even knew it was your body. I know where you live too, and that your gate is always unlocked. I also know you're on the second floor and exactly how to get there. So, you're going straight home and going to sleep. In the morning, you'll tell yourself that all this was just a dream."

Faith leaned in farther.

"Are we clear?"

Cordelia nodded frenziedly, "Yes, Ma'am."

"Good." Faith dropped the keys into her hand and pulled out of the car. Cordelia revved the engine, the took off the way she came. Strangely, the dress slipped her mind.

"How you do that amazes me." Buffy said after Cordelia was long gone.

"I practice on you a lot." Faith joked.

"Maybe the manipulation part, but how did you know all that?" Buffy asked.

"Cordelia, definitely from money. Smelled it on her clothes. Most wealthy people have grand estates with gates they don't usually lock thanks to their fancy security systems." Faith said with an air of confidence.

"And her room on the second floor?"

"That... Was a guess."

Faith and Buffy both laughed for a moment, leaning against the fence. Buffy was about to speak after the laughing had subsided, but Faith pulled her close

"Why don't you ever call me ma'am?" Faith asked.

"Maybe you could manipulate me to say it?" Buffy laughed.

"You knew I was joking about that, right?" Faith raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, ma'am." Buffy leered at Faith deviously.

- Present -

"Whatever hapened to being vanilla, B?" the words echoed in her head. Sheets of warm water poured out of the shower head and seeped into Buffy's skin. Her tense muscles released under the warm water. The steam drifted around her, sticking to the beige tiles on the floor and wall and also fogging up the glazed glass of the stalls.

Buffy was always vanilla, with anyone. Riley, Parker, Angel, all vanilla. Of course, it was different with Faith. Not just because Faith was a girl, and it was not like with a guy, but how they did it. It just was more intense, rough, exhilirating. Maybe the passion made it more animalistic, or maybe the slight amount of pain made it all that more dangerous, that thrill every Slayer was looking for. It could be that she knew Faith could never actually hurt her badly. Whatever it was, it was that much better than anything else.

Buffy stepped out of the shower and threw a towel on.

"Hey, babe, your phone's ringing." Faith said, taking an extra moment to look at Buffy's legs.

"Who would call me?" Buffy said, drying off her hair as she walked over.

"Can I borrow your lipstick, B?" Faith looked through the make-up in Buffy's bag.

"Sure." She replied and picked up the phone, "Buffy Summers."

"Buffy, hey." The voice said.

"Cordelia! Hi." Buffy looked at Faith, who returned her stunned look. Faith mouthed the name and Buffy shrugged her shoulders.

"Haven't talked to you in a while, Cordelia. How's L.A.?" Buffy spoke into the phone as she got her clothes on.

"Interesting, but Angel is kinda stuck on something. Wondered if Giles could help." Cordelia said. The name Angel sent shivers down her spine.

"I'm not exactly in contact with Giles right now." Buffy said.

The line was silent for a moment.

"I figured. How's Faith?" Cordelia asked.

"Faith? So you've heard?" Buffy said trying to sound cool and collected. Faith looked over

"Yeah. Angel was wondering if you guys could take time out of your run-away road trip to stop in L.A." Cordelia admitted.

"Uh, L.A. Isn't on our triptick." Buffy said, "Does that mean everyone knows?"

"Pretty much. Kinda irresponsible, Buffy. Thought you were a goody two shoes. How you and Faith get a long is beyond me. Isn't she some bad-ass chick?" Cordelia was truly a bitch sometimes.

"We do more than just get along." Buffy let anger creep into her voice. There were serious wounds between her and Cordelia, so they never had a good conversation anymore.

"So you two are still sleeping together?" Cordelia sniped.

"It's more than just that." Buffy looked down to see her fist was red and white clenched together. Faith sat down next to Buffy and took her hand. Buffy eased up and looked at Faith. Faith was serious as always, not looking upset. As usual, though, her eyes bled with care.

"Defensive, Buffy. Still doesn't changed that Angel requests you guys stop by." Cordelia said.

"What are you, his assistant?" Buffy said.

"Better than being a run-away Slayer." Cordelia was really getting to Buffy.

"Look, I don't need this. We aren't going to L.A." Buffy was very sure of that, though.

"Well, I just thought you guys had some stuff to work out with Angel. If you two can go on with settling this, then avoid us." Cordelia said, pausing for a moment, "Have fun with your girlfriend."

With a click, the line went dead.

"Damn it." Buffy growled.

"What's up, girlfriend?" Faith said.

"Girlfriend... You're my girlfriend." Buffy mumbled

"Yeah, B. Thought we were." Faith put her arm around Buffy and pulled her close.

"I'm fed up with all the jokes and the remarks." Buffy tried to ball her hand into fist, but Faith's hand was in the way.

"About what?" Faith was legitimately confused at this point.

"Being gay... Or bi... Or whatever I am!" Buffy looked at Faith, who raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm a girl... And you're a girl... And I love you, and you love me. What more is there?" Faith hugged Buffy close.

"Acceptance. I wish people just understood." Buffy rambled.

"This never upset you before. Who made you upset? Who do I need to hurt, Buff?" Faith squeezed Buffy even closer.

"Cordelia was just messing with me, like always." Buffy said.

"Do I need to punch her again?"

"No. Angel did request we go to L.A., though." Mocking Cordelia with the word "Requested:.

"Let's make that our next stop." Faith kissed Buffy's head.

"How could we possibly get there?"

"You know my car? The one that I lent to my 'friend'?"

"Yeah."

Faith stood up and led Buffy to the door and opened it up. She walked outo of the hotel to the parking lot and leaned on the back of her 1997 Red Camaro.

"Wow. We're definitely going places." Buffy said with a grin.

"No blood in the car." Faith said as she turned to get into the car, "And get my bag."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Sorry for the lateness, guys. Again, trouble uploading. So this will be the third installment of Road Trip, and one of my favorites. So, read, review, and enjoy. Also, no bad feelings towards Angel fans.

XOXOXOX

Buffy watched as greens, blues, browns, and grays blur past outside the window of the old Camaro. Something was on her mind though. All she could think about was the way Faith pulled on her hair the other night. Faith apologized for it, but for some odd reason it really turned Buffy on. Buffy thought maybe it was one of those animal things, or one of those Slayer things. When you're living in constant danger of death every night, normal stuff doesn't do it for you. Buffy put her head against the window. Somewhere in the darkest crevices of her mind, she thinks, maybe she's into that. Buffy shook her head to get the thought out of her mind.

"What's on your mind, B?" Faith asked.

"Oh, uh. Thoughts, you know." Buffy gave a fake smile.

"What's wrong?" Faith put a concerned face on and turned to look at Buffy as the light glowed red above the car.

"Nothing." Buffy smiled fakely once more.

"You're lyin' too me, B." Faith said,"But I know you'll tell me when you're ready."

Buffy smiled. Faith was always so direct, and often spoke her mind. Buffy however, bottled things up. She trusted Faith so much, though. How could she possibly talk to Faith about something that she didn't understand herself? Faith gave her a lingering look, then turned her eyes back to the road.

XOXOXOX

"Lompoc!" Faith said as she dropped her bag on the bed.

"And the crappiest motel in Lompoc." Buffy remarked.

"And who's the one with the money?" Faith teased.

"Speaking of which, where did you get the money?"

"I had money with the mayor taking care of me... Wasn't like I'd let the money be wasted." Faith flopped onto the bed, followed by Buffy. Faith turned on to her side and snuggled against Buffy's side. Their jackets that they shed before leaving for dinner were on the chair next to the bed. Faith's black jacket, and Buffy's, formerly Faith's, denim jacket lay there.

"Small bed." Buffy said.

"Big enough for what we want to do." Faith smirked.

"Sleep." They said at the same time.

XOXOXOX

"Morning, B, I got the-" Faith dropped the bag of breakfast foods when she looked into the room. She saw Buffy engaged in a very deep kiss with Angel. She didn't seem to be fighting back, either. Faith was stunned, trying to think of a reason why this would be happening. All of a sudden, she was frozen to the spot. She screamed Buffy's name, but her voice didn't reach her. Faith struggled against the invisible force, but to no avail. Buffy and Angel had their hands all over each other. Angel moved away from her lips and slipped down her neck, coming to the crook, where he bit down. Buffy screamed and grabbed on to Angel even tighter until she looked pale and her hands fell away from his arms, limp. He let her body go and it fell to the ground with a 'thud'. Faith felt tear slip out of her eyes. The invisible force released her and she fell to the ground with a sob. Her tears dotted the floor and she found herself crawling over to Buffy's body.

"You did this to her. You could have stopped me, but you won't be able to. I thought you loved her."Angel's voice echoed from behind her.

"I do love her, I do... She's everything to me." Faith said, the tears stinging her face.

"Obviously not enough." Angel snickered.

"Buffy... Oh god... No... What will I... Without you, I'm..." Faith sniffled. She picked up Buffy's head and stroked it lightly.

"What? Worthless, useless, street scum? A slut? A troubled, alcoholic slut?" Angel spat, "How do you even deserve her? She's so perfect. You're a high-school drop-out with a troubled past, drinking problems, and the inability to have a relationship."

"She loves me too. She loves me for who I really am... No, if she's gone..." Faith put her head on Buffy's chest and cried into her no longer beating heart.

The knife that Buffy gave Faith fell in front of her. The metal shining in some artificial way.

"Then kill yourself. For her. For me." Angel smirked.

Faith shakily took the knife and looked at Buffy. Her fingers slowly wrapped around the hilt of the blade. Buffy was dead. Her whole world was slipping away around her into nothingness. It felt like a void of existence. Angel stared at her as she clutched the knife, her hands trembling as she held it. How could she live without Buffy Summers there every morning... then again, she might be happier without Faith Lehane. The world might be better without her. Nobody needed her, right? She took the knife and pulled it into her chest. The pain felt meaningless compared to the loss of Buffy. It felt like a scratch in the bloody wound. Her eyes were moist and trails of tears ran rivers down her cheeks. Buffy... her everything was dead. Faith felt the blood running over her shirt, seeping through the light material. Faith shoved the knife in deeper and then sat up gasping.

Faith stared into the darkness of the night that had swallowed up the motel room. She heard Buffy stir slightly before falling back asleep. She put her head into her hands and let a few tears slip away into the abyss of blackness.

XOXOXOX

"Morning, Fay." Buffy said once they both had been awake for a few minutes. The soft light from the blinds cascaded over their bodies. Buffy hooked her finger onto the dip of her tank top and pulled it forward a bit. Faith looked at Buffy's eyes, then shut her own as she kissed Buffy. Their mouths opened slightly and that familiar spark flared once more. Faith gently slid over top of Buffy.

"It's so early, B." She murmured.

"Oh well. I've got more energy in the morning." Buffy said, which Faith took as a challenge.

"Well, I guess I'll have to hold you down, nibble a little bit. You liked that right?" Faith took Buffy's arms and pinned them down above her head at the wrists with one hand, biting at her lower lip.

Faith ran her other hand through Buffy's hair. Buffy let a moan escape her throat and instantly pulled away from Faith.

"B?" Faith rolled off of her and let her stand up.

"I-I sh-should... I mean!" Buffy turned and ran into the bathroom of the motel, slamming the door shut. She stared at her reflection and turned on the water. Buffy splashed some water on her make-upless face. She gripped the porcelain of the yellowed sink and tried to think through everything. Faith's hands pulling her hair, Faith's nails digging into her arm, Faith pinning her down, Faith biting her neck, Faith throwing her against the wall. It all turned her one. What's wrong with her? Sick, I'm sick, she thought.

"Buffy?" Faith peeked her head around the corner. She walked in and leaned against the door frame, waiting for Buffy to get comfortable. Buffy stared down at the sink. Faith sighed and took Buffy by the wrist and walked her to the chair, throwing their jackets to the ground.

"It's not you." Buffy said, "It's me. I'm sick. I'm messed up."

"Is that what Cordelia said? I'll kick her ass, B."

"No. I don't care about Cordelia! I'm the one that's wrong."

"Buffy." Faith lowered her voice slightly. Buffy immediately looked up, and Faith raised her eyebrows.

"I get turned on whenever you hurt me. God, I'm so screwed up."

Faith held back a chuckle, "No you aren't you just like it rough."

"Doesn't sound quite as bad when you say it like that." Buffy said softly.

"Because it isn't bad. It's normal, B. Everyone has their kinks. You just like it wicked fierce, right?" Faith gave a comforting smile, "Doesn't mean I'm gonna be the Mistress of Pain everynight."

"No. I think the Willow dominatrix was enough." Buffy smiled, which was what Faith was looking for.

"Listen, Buffy. I will never let it go that far. I won't hurt you at all. Just a little rough housing doesn't mean we're gonna lose an arm." Faith sat down on the bed and looked at Buffy, "Even I'm weird."

"What's your 'kink'?" Buffy felt stupidly immediately after saying that.

"I'm a control freak. I like being on top, knowing I have complete control over your pleasure and can do whatever I want. Makes me feel good. Most of the time, I want to make you the happiest chick alive." Faith confessed, lounging a bit.

"I guess we're all weird?" Buffy felt her worries start to fade. They seemed a lot less extreme once she had said it.

"Yeah. Listen, if you start to do anything rash, I'll hold you down-"

"Which would only turn me on more." Buffy sighed.

"I'm not good at explaining what I feel, but believe me, I will never let you or anyone else harm you. As long as I'm with you, we'll watch eachother's backs." The conversation was suddenly about Faith's break down and not Buffy's. Buffy saw it right away, Faith was feeling insecure, like she wasn' t good enough. Faith had serious fear in her eyes. Fear that something might happen to Buffy was dwindling in her mind. The two girls had serious breaks in the past week. For some reason, Buffy was doubting her state of mind, and Faith was scared that she won't be able to make the decision that saves Buffy in the end. Although it seemed like something more. They both knew that niether one of them were okay, so instead of asking, Faith jumped forward and embraced Buffy, knocking her back in the chair.

"I'm not okay." Faith answered Buffy's silent question.

XOXOXOX

Author's Notes: Sorry, that chapter was a bit confusing, but the next few will sort these problems out. More about the insecurities in their dreams more than the Buffy's turn-ons issue, which is simply an adolescent thing. Next chapter hopefully tomorrow. Tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: New Chapter already? Yes. Thanks to the people that put this on alert, check back everyday. This might clear up some confusion.

XOXOXOX

"Faith, this is very out of character. I love it, but are you alright?" Buffy laughed a bit.

"I'm a lot different than I was before the coma." Faith kissed Buffy on the cheek and slipped in the seat next to Buffy.

"You're moodier than usual, and talk more." Buffy snuggled with Faith.

"I know. I'm still confused... I'm still scared. I mean, I'm with this wonderful chick that's hot, sexy, cute, strong, and funny. I'm a college drop-out with tons of problems."

Buffy cupped her hand over Faith's mouth. For once, the roles were reversed. Usually Buffy was the one that layed out all her problems and worried to death, then got a single sentence from Faith that put all her fears at rest. It was Buffy's turn to say the phrase.

"I love you, and that's all that matters." she said. Normally, Faith would say that then kiss Buffy gently, but this time, Buffy put her hand on Faith's face and pulled her head in slightly.

As soon as Buffy shut her eyes, she saw Angel kissing Faith, and when Faith shut her eyes, she saw Buffy kissing Angel. Then Faith saw Buffy's lifeless body. Faith grabbed the back of Buffy's head and pulled her into the most choatic kiss of her life. Buffy took it as an improv of Faith's and opened her mouth, it felt like they had eaten something spicy, and heat played across their lips. To Faith it was a push to overcome the fear, but for some reason, all her pent up feelings spilled out into Buffy. What Angel said in her dream, wasn't his thoughts, it was her own. She let it all out. They felt a crazed rythm rocket their bodies. A grunt came from someone, but they kept going, and felt electricity break out across their mouths. Faith fingers wrapped in her hair, and Buffy felt completely comfortable in the awkward position. Faith lulled her body and pressed Buffy further into the chair. The forest fire was out of control, burning along their body. Buffy broke the kiss by throwing her head back and gasping.

It felt like ice water had been dumped over Buffy's body. She instantly felt need. The need to feel Faith all over her again. The need to feel that heat again. Buffy leaned to take Faith again, but Faith turned away, still breathing heavy.

"I'm so sorry, I just let a lot out on ya, B." Faith unraveled her hand from Buffy's hair.

"It was amazing." Buffy breathed breathless once again.

"Yeah, but-" Faith was cut off by Buffy's lips, moments later, Buffy pulled off. There wasn't as much chaos this time, in fact, Faith barely kissed Buffy back at all."

"Faith? Is something wrong?" Buffy asked, suddenly aware of that she had somehow ended up on top of Faith, something that rarely occured.

"I'm scared, Buffy." Faith admitted, "We've got Santa Barbra, then it's L.A... I don't know how I can protect you."

"I'm the one that has to protect you." Buffy said, "You are gonna have a hard time meeting Angel."

The sunlight had become much harsher now. There was a a strange air in the room as the two girls looked at one another. Faith had just admitted that she was afraid. Suddenly, Faith knew Buffy hadn't lied. Telling the truth did in fact make her feel better. She relaxed, though she felt exposed and vulnerable, in an emotional sense. Buffy felt like something had been settled, in a strange way. Faith knew it too. They both felt so much better. Buffy took the move and hugged Faith.

"Now that I've said it..." Faith trailed off.

"We could leave for Santa Barbra or..." Buffy also trailed off.

"I like 'or'." Faith kissed Buffy again.

XOXOXOX

"Faith, you were really letting a lot out this morning." Buffy kicked her feet up on the dashboard.

"Yeah, I kinda had a break last night." Faith admitted.

"I've only seen you like that once before." Buffy recollected, "The first night that I came to see you."

Faith was silent as she turned the wheel. Her face was emotionless as she watched the road. Buffy realized that this was probably something she shouldn't have brought up.

"I was jackass to you back then. I really fucked up stuff a year ago." Faith clutched the wheel tighter, "I thought you were wound tight, that you needed to let loose. You were so stuck up, I hated you. Until that night. You helped me out when I didn't deserve your help. Can't believe I fell in love with you, but I'm so happy I did."

Buffy looked at Faith, "God, Faith, I didn't mean to bring up-"

"It's fine. It's in the past. I just wish I was nicer to you before." Faith's grip on the steering wheel was whitening her knuckles.

"You remember the first night we met?" Buffy fiddled with the controls of the radio.

"Yeah. I staked that damn hipster vamp." Faith grinned, remembering the day she met Buffy.

"First time I handed you a stake, first time you called me 'B'. Wasn't the last time we did any of those things." Buffy reminisced.

"Looking for a confession, B? Alright, I hated you until the moment you took my hand at school. Then, I couldn't stand you." Faith laughed, "Because you really messed with my feelings."

"That bad?"

"Pissed me off, B."

"That's funny. Not haha funny, but funny as in I felt the same way... Funny."

"Pissed?"

"Well, confused." Buffy turned to the older girl in the car.

"Yeah, doesn't matter." Faith glanced over at her companion, making eyecontact for mere seconds before switching attention back to the street sliding by under her.

"We were together a week later." Buffy took her feet off the dashboard and fixed her seatbelt.

"Together starting the day after we got some?" Faith said, crude as always.

"If got some is what happened." Buffy snickered.

"You definitely got some. I gave some." Faith teased.

"Are you trying to make me crazy?" Buffy grinned and looked out at the fading sun over the california hills. She saw a guy on the side of the road laying there, twitching next to a hole in the ground.

"If I wanted to do that I would-"

"Faith! Pull over!" Buffy cut off whatever erotic comment was about to be made.

"There's some guy back there." Alarm in Buffy's voice while Faith wrenched the wheel over and pulled the shiny red Camaro off to the side of the road. They both jumped out, holy water in their pockets, stakes in their hands, and crosses strung around their neck. A special one on Faith's neck, the one Buffy had given her. They made a dash towards the man, who Buffy felt she knew.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy ran up to the guy and knelt down next to him, Faith remained standing. He was twitching and convulsing, to most people this might have been really sickening, but the Slayers have seen worse, lost friends and family. There wasn't much a Slayer couldn't stomach. The guy had on a gray jumpsuit and his name tag read "Jimmy". He had severe bite marks on his neck and was coughing up blood.

"Vampires." He coughed.

"Vamps?" Faith did a quick scan of the perimeter.

"Real!" He sputtered, "Killed Johnny... So many..."

He gave a raspy breath and touched his bloody shoulder before putting his head on the ground, closing his eyes for the last time. His brown hair was matted on his face with sweat, and it felt like Buffy knew him regardless. She suddenly realized that this was the kid that was in her gym class Junior year. He was one of those vocational types. She shut his eyes out of respect.

"Rest in peace." Buffy whispered before standing up and turning to Faith.

"Let's kick some vamp ass." Buffy strode over towards the hole.

"That's the Buffy I know and love." Faith chuckled as she walked over to Buffy.

The hole looked like a man hole down to a sewer control room.

"No plan, B. Worked last time." Faith winked as she jumped down the hole. Buffy didn't mind as much this time and jumped in after her. Buffy landed cleanly, seconds after Faith in a room filled with at least 5 or 6 vampires.

"Sorry to drop in..." Buffy punned.

"but the Chosen Two are in town." Faith lashed out at the nearest vamp, catching him off guard and staking him clean. Buffy lunged forward and knocked a vamp on he back, swinging around to catch another one in the mouth. Faith staked the vamp Buffy had pushed on the ground and spun on her heel to kick one in the jaw. She grabbed the airborne vampire and swung him into one that thought he was sneaking up behind Faith. Buffy staked the one Faith was throwing before it hit the ground, and ducked to avoid an awkward pounce from another one behind her. It slammed into the wall and was staked from behind.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled. Buffy turned to see the last one being held by Faith from behind. Buffy dashed towards it and pierced it's heart with the wood. A sigh of relief left Faith's mouth as the vampire crumbled to dust in front of her.

"Now what were you gonna say about making me crazy?" Buffy asked.

"One sec, B." Faith looked around, "They were all wearing work outfits. The must have worked here. A whole team of people wearing uniforms turning into vamps ain't normal."

Faith picked up a paper off the ground, "This rooster says 8 people were working on a major leak."

"5 vamps. The guy up there had a jumpsuit on..." Buffy counted.

"Here's Johnny." Faith pulled a sheet off a dead body with a gray jumpsuit on. She snickered at her movie reference.

"That's only 7." Buffy said as her face grew grim.

"Either we've got a vampire down that maintenance sewer..." Faith trailed off.

"Or someone else knows what happened to all these guys." Buffy opened the maintenance door and looked down the tunnel, "After you."

XOXOXOX

"We've searched the entire system at least once and it's been completely silent!" Buffy whispered to Faith.

"B." Faith hissed, hearing a bang on the wall.

"Help..." they heard a faint voice say. The two slayers darted down the hallway to the form of a man. He had the same uniform on as the others.

"...Buffy?" They guy coughed, he was pretty beat up.

"You know me?" Buffy asked, she had never seen him before.

"You know Cordelia, right?"

Faith grabbed him by the collar, "Is she here?"

The guy coughed really hard, and Buffy pried Faith off the guy.

"She's in Santa Barbara. There's a bunch of vamps turning us... Cordelia knows..." He gasped for breath.

"She's waiting for us. Damn it. We could avoid Santa Barbara if we-"

"Faith. No. She's probably on business. We're gonna have to meet up with her anyways. May as well find out what's going on here anyways, if she knows what happened, maybe it'll help us get to the bottom of this." Buffy put her hand on Faith's shoulder.

"Buffy..."

"No." Buffy bit her tongue, she hated that word. Ever since those days of constant fighting and kissing and screwing, they never wanted that life. She and Faith's relationship used to be so messed up. They would act like co-workers that loathe each other in front of everyone during the day, then act like two star crossed lovers in the moonlight. It was self-destructive.

"You're right. Face it head on. Her and I aren't on the greatest of terms, though."

"Uhm, can you guys get me to a hospital?" The poor guy on the ground cut in.

XOXOXOX

Buffy sat next to Faith in the hospital. Faith's hand was on Buffy's knee and Buffy had her arm on the back of Faith's chair.

"Not how I wanted to spend the night in Santa Barbara." Buffy began.

"Why the hell don't we ditch this place?" Faith turned her attention to Buffy.

"The police want to file a report. We can't get on their bad side." Buffy ran her hand up the back of Faith's next into her hair.

"If it were just me, I'd gave motored a while ago." Faith reminded.

Buffy was reminded of just how different they were. Faith was a lot more vulgar and a whole lot more of a daredevil. Faith got a lot dirtier and raunchier than Buffy. Hell, Faith wore T-shirts and Buffy wore dresses, though their attire has matched a lot more lately.

"Faith Lehane? Buffy Summers? I know you're in shock, but could you answer some more questions about finding this man?" A police officer said.

"We found him on the side of the road, there was a dead guy there too." Buffy said.

"They were real bloodied up." Faith noted.

"Are you two related?" The cop asked.

"No." Buffy bit her lip, knowing what was coming next. She felt a reassuring squeeze of her knee.

"So you're together?" The man asked.

Faith nodded. Not a single remark from the police, not a single moment

"Okay. Well, we'll have some things for you to sign..."

XOXOXOX

Buffy fell on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and sighing.

"Need to relax?" Faith said, climbing on top of Buffy. Faith sat on Buffy so the bottom of her hips touched Buffy's.

"I shouldn't." Buffy said, "It's been a long day."

"What shouldn't you do? This?" Faith raked her hips against Buffy's, sliding up her body.

"Oh, god, yes. That." Buffy groaned.

Faith dropped lower and kissed Buffy, pulling her hips against Buffy's once more, "Still don't want to?"

"Not until you tell me what you were gonna say in the car." Buffy tried to ignore Faith's cat-like movements above her. Faith smirked.

"Why don't I just do it." Faith suggested as she slid down Buffy's body. Buffy felt the buttons on her jeans undone, and her jeans pulled down. She felt her underwear pulled off and Faith-

"Faith!" Buffy screamed.

"B?" Faith had an evil grin curling at her lips.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy's eyes were wide.

"Don't lie, B. You liked it." Faith kissed Buffy's neck.

"Fuck yes." Buffy said.

"I love it when you talk dirty, babe." Faith devilishly bit Buffy's lips before slipping back down her body once more.

XOXOXOX

Buffy and Faith lay next to each other, the sheets wrapped around them. They were breathing heavily.

"Wow..." Buffy breathed.

"Yeah..." Faith sighed.

"I... Twice?" Buffy felt her hand grasp Faith's.

"Yeah... You... Twice... Wicked hot... B..." Faith squeezed Buffy's hands under the covers.

"God... Wow... Twice? I feel... Thirty minutes..." Buffy tried to say something, but she was breathless.

"Yeah, B... It was... You're... Flexible..." Faith tried to tease her, but was also breathless.

Instead of trying to form words, Buffy rolled over and kissed Faith. All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door and a familiar voice yelled Buffy's name through the door. Buffy grouchily stopped kissing Faith a yelled through the door, "Who is it?"

"It's the goddamn Homecoming Queen." Cordelia spat.


	6. Chapter 6

"It's the goddamn Homecoming Queen." Cordelia spat.

"Does this mean we have to put clothes on for this bitch?" Faith asked.

"I heard that." Cordelia was probably glaring at the door. Faith just laughed.

XOXOXOX

-One Year Ago-

Faith walked into the Bronze, the smokiness almost shrouded her vision, but she quickly adjusted. She saw Xander at one of the pool tables, shooting angrily at the billard balls.

"Look pissed." Faith said, leaning against the pool table. Xander glanced up at her, but went back to shooting.

"Rough day." He answered.

"Tell me about it." Faith knew that they were all talking about something behind her back, and she was determined to find out. If Buffy was in trouble, she had to know. They had been secretly together for only a week now, and Faith felt very possesive of the girl already.

"Rather just shoot." Xander covered. Straight to the point then, Faith thought.

"Don't think I don't know what you and your pals are talking bout behind my back today." Faith saw Xander's distress grow a bit beneath his angry eyes.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He walked around the table once more.

"More about this glove deal than you say." Faith watched Xander make another fine shot.

"The Glove of Myhnegon? Right." Xander hadn't expected her to know that he saw Buffy almost kiss Angel. He still didn't understand why she never followed through on that kiss. Maybe somewhere, Buffy knew better than that.

"How'd you like a hit of some real news: Angel's still alive." Xander said. Faith immediately tightened her grip on the table.

"The vampire." She growled.

"Back in town. Saw him myself." Xander neglected to notice how upset Faith was. Probably because she was hiding it at her best, "Toting the popular and famous glove."

Faith was overcome with jealousy. Angel was Buffy's first, and that made him coming back an obstacle in their relationship, "Angel. Guy like that, with that kind of glove could kill a whole mess of people."

"Said the same thing to Buffy myself." Xander was obviously still upset at Angel. Faith realized that Buffy must have known he was back. She didn't tell her? "Weird how she didn't seem to care."

Xander's last comment confirmed Faith's fears.

"Buffy knew he was alive. I can't believe her." Faith looked down at the red felt of the pool table.

"She says he's clean." Xander said.

"Well, I say we can't afford to find out." Faith had made a decision that could only end badly, but felt so right, "I say we deal with this problem right now. I say I slay."

"Can I come?"

- Present -

"So you two are back together?" Cordelia said, lounging on the chair across from Buffy and Faith. Faith's arm was draped around Buffy's shoulder and was idly playing with the denim of Buffy's jacket.

"Yeah." Faith said.

"After she tried to kill Angel and Willow?" Cordelia aimed that snipe at Buffy.

"That's all squared away now." Buffy said, already pissed at Cordelia.

"Guess I missed that part in the story. After Gwen Post, and the mayor? Real forgiving. I, however am having a wonderful time working for Angel." Cordelia glared at Faith momentarily, then turned her daggers towards Buffy.

"Why are you here Cordelia?" Buffy tried to change the subject.

"Okay, so there's this kind of vampire that wants to build a 'family'. It turns as many people as possible before it dies. Kind of weird, but we tracked it here, then Angel got called back on some special business. It's kinda just me and Doyle here." Cordelia explained, "He's my partner. Guess you two have that figured out.

"So you thought we might come in and clean up the mess." Buffy said.

"We're just tracking him. We aren't supposed to hurt him or anything. I was actually hoping you two wouldn't show up."

"I think you're still upset that I popped you one." Faith glared at Cordelia who was looking up at the ceiling.

"It wasn't my fault you two were all over each other in the library when I walked in." Cordelia messed with her fingernails though they were nearly perfect.

"You almost told everyone." Buffy was upset now.

"Why didn't you tell people that the Slayers of Sunnydale were making lip time on patrol?" Cordelia still didn't understand, and they spiraled way off topic.

"Because of what people would say. Two girls dating eachother and people start to talk." Buffy turned to Faith, who had been silent for a little while, staring at Cordelia.

"Then you do what I did. Give up all your fame, popularity, and reputation to be with someone." Cordelia looked down at the ground, "Even if they turn out to be cheating liars."

Faith instantly felt a twang of sympathy, knowing what it's like to see someone you love hide things. She still didn't feel comfortable thinking that Buffy and Angel were seeing each other behind her back. Of course, she was assured by Buffy that they never did anything until after she had decided on him over her. Faith squeezed Buffy's shoulder lightly. Buffy looked at Faith again, but Faith didn't return her gaze. Faith wasn't about to say she understood Cordelia, but she wasn't quite as angry.

"You'd understand that, Faith." Cordelia said, "Weren't you cheated on?"

That dash of sympathy was gone, and was replaced by rage. Faith tried to stand up, but Buffy put her hand on Faith's knee. Faith looked at Buffy, but couldn't stay angry while looking into the girl's eyes.

"Cordelia, if you don't have anything else to say, leave." Buffy tried to sound as nice as she could.

"Okay, fine. Are you coming to L.A. Or not?" Cordelia got straight to the point.

"Yeah. We're heading there." Faith spoke again, wanting the woman to leave.

"Good. Enjoy the trip." Cordelia picked up her bag.

Cordelia was out the door before Faith could make a smart ass remark.

"That fuckin' bitch just came to screw with us." Faith swore.

"Fay, please." Buffy put her hand on Faith's face, lightly caressing Faith's cheek with her thumb. There she was again, the old Faith. The more vulgar, daring, reckless, rash, emotion-driven Faith. Oddly, the old Faith was more sexy, teasing, flirty, hot, and damn near irresistible. The Faith before the coma was definitely far less trusting or trustworthy. She was far more lustworthy though. The old Faith had pros and cons. The new Faith was all over more mellow. Definitely didn't have that dangerous-and-sexy trait, but still had some Faith sex-appeal, of course. Buffy loved both Faiths, because they were her, but sometimes, she wished she had the old Faith's true to herself personality, and the love that the new Faith has for Buffy having been through so much with her. Buffy would be happy just having a Faith at all. She never asked for much more than that.

- One Year Ago -

Some cop show ran in the background as Faith flipped through a comic book. She heard a knocking come on the motel room's door.

"Come in." Faith said, wondering who would want to see her. As soon as the the thought that it might be Buffy entered her head, so did the girl.

"Hey." Buffy said.

Faith's heart skipped a beat. Why was she here? Why would Buffy want to see her after what she did? Faith curled her toes and didn't answer, her heart was pounding in her chest, but she covered it up. Buffy felt a bit of sympathy for Faith's situation once more, but turned to look at Faith. They slept together just a little while ago, now they can barely talk to each other. They acted like enemies in public like everyone expected, and now the charade was carried into their private lives, making them wonder which life was the fake one.

"The place looks nice." Buffy said, leaning against the cheap dresser.

"Yeah, it's real Spartan." Faith didn't look up, didn't make eye contact.

"How are you?" Buffy asked with her usual sympathy. The woman she was intimately acquainted with seemed so unreachable. One watcher killed horribly, the other betrayed her; Buffy could understand that she might not be fine. Like always, though, Faith acted like it was no big deal.

"Five by five." She lied.

"I'll interpret that as good." Buffy wished Faith would look at her, "Look, Gwendolyn Post, or whoever she may be, had us all fooled. Even Giles."

"Well, you can't trust people." Faith once again put up a mental wall between her and Buffy, "I should've learned that by now."

"I know this is gonna sound funny coming from someone that just spent a lot of time kicking your face... But you can trust me." Buffy threw it out, the trust card was on the table and Faith could throw it away, or take, maybe even match it.

"Is that right?" Faith decided to play another card, trying to see what Buffy's play really was all about. Angel. That's what this was about and they both knew it.

"I know I kept secrets, but I didn't have a choice. I'm on your side." Buffy looked at Faith with care, still pushing the trust card at her.

"I'm on my side, and that's enough." Faith said. There it was again, the trust wall. Don't-trust-anyone-anymore Faith.

"Not always." Buffy refused to let Faith throw away her ability to put faith in someone besides herself.

"Is that it?" Faith was kind of angry now.

"Yeah, I guess." Buffy felt the trust card slide off the table.

"All right. Well, then, I'll see you." Faith said. The card tumbled off the edge and fluttered to the ground without a sound. Faith realized it too at that moment as Buffy turned to leave. She felt guilty. "Buffy" she said.

Buffy spun around, "Yeah?"

Faith knocked wall in her mind down between the two Slayers and picked the trust card back up.

"Why didn't you tell me Angel was back?" The charade was through.

"Because I thought you'd hurt him, or you'd get mad." Buffy put her bag on the dresser.

"What gives you the right?" Faith glared at Buffy. Buffy tried to form an excuse, but before she could, Faith fired a sucker punch at her saying, "Were you cheating on me?"

"No. God, No." Buffy stammered, "He wanted... I didn't."

Faith fell silent, a soft sneer still on her face.

"Faith... I think... I think I-think I love you." Buffy stammared. Faith looked up. Her expression suddenly softened into look of surprise.

"After the hell I put you through?" Faith swallowed, "You still like me?"

"I still love you. I think I always did."

"Yeah? Prove it." Faith didn't believe her, although it was understandable why she didn't. Buffy's blood was burning hot, causing her skin to warm in anger. Bufy dropped her beige coat on the ground so she was just in her black dress. She just told Faith she loved her and Faith didn't take that, instead she demanded proof. Buffy stomped over to the side of the bed, prepared to speak her mind. Before a single word left her motuh, Faith sat up, Grabbed the back of Buffy's head, and pulled Buffy's lips against her own. Buffy instinctively shut her eyes and sucked on Faith's upper lip, feeling the other slayer's lips closed around her bottom lip. Buffy felt the kiss end as Faith pulled back away.

"Okay. I believe ya, B." Faith said, sitting back down on the bed.

"What?" Buffy felt confused and angry so she flopped face first on the bed she had been leaning over.

Faith laughed and looked at Buffy, "Because oF how ya kissed me. Like you loved me."

"You're so... So..." Buffy groaned unhappily into the sheets.

"So good at playing you?" Faith chuckled.

"Bite me." Buffy said into the bed.

"Hey, B... I trust you... And you can trust me too. I just overreacted. It'll take some getting used too though." Faith admitted.


	7. Chapter 7

Four vamps. Two for two, right? Of course not. One must have been three times Xander's size, and of course he came bumbling towards Buffy. She throws more power behind her punches and still gets no real hit on the guy. He swats her off, and Buffy does a roll to avoid damage, and ends up behind the lunk. She jumped onto the back of the large thug. With a grunt, Buffy was able to take the thug to the ground, but he managed to roll over and squash Buffy. Buffy cried out, but Faith was busy with the three normal sized vamps. Buffy tapped into her supernatural strength and kicked the thug off, punching him in the back of the head for good measure. Buffy looked around, she must have dropped her stake in the struggle. She searched for a moment then found it in the grass. She ran over to it, but the thug vamp grabbed her leg and she fell face first into the grass. The stake was mere inches away from the tips of her fingers. She fought forward with all of her strength and forced herself closer. Her fingers grazed the wooden weapon long enough for it to roll towards Buffy and in that instant she took it in her hands and swung around, staking the enormous vamp.

"I must be wicked good, cause I got three and you got one." Faith teased.

"Bite me." Buffy turned to Faith.

Buffy looked at Faith, her features heightened by shadows. Buffy took a step closer the the dark Slayer and felt the adrenaline still pumping in their veins, the sweat still slipping off their foreheads, and the dirt of the Santa Barbara graveyard still clung to their clothes.

"Was that an invite for me or the vamps?" Faith looked into Buffy's eyes and raised an eyebrow in her signature way, "How about instead of low fat yogurt we get coffee this time? I got a question for ya, B."

Buffy nodded.

-One Year Ago-

Faith walked through the door of the classroom followed by Buffy, who shut the door and peeked outside for good measure before turning to the best a worst thing in her life, Faith.

"So, you gonna rat me out? Is that it?" Faith crossed her arms and looked at the blonde Slayer.

"Faith, we have to tell." Buffy looked at Faith with soft eyes, trying to convince Faith of the direness of the situation, "I can't pretend to investigate this. I can't pretend that I don't know."

"Oh, but you can pretend that Angel's dead when you want to protect him." Once again, Faith was using Buffy's favorite vampire as leverage in the conversation.

"I am trying to protect you. I don't want to see you hurt, Fay." Buffy wasn't sure why Faith doubted her all of a sudden, "Look, if we don't do the right thing, it's only going to make things worse for you."

"Worse than jail for the rest of my young life? No way." Faith refused to look at the big picture.

"Listen, what we did-"

"Yeah. We. We slept together, we made out on patrol, we lied to everyone, we killed a guy. You were right there beside me when this whole thing went down. Anything I have to answer for, you do too. You're a part of this, B. All the way." Faith brought up everything they tried to put aside. She was good at this, playing Buffy. Although she tried to not really not to abuse that power, it was just natural to Faith. Faith however, was never a very good liar. As long as you don't ask her, she won't tell. Asking her, however, makes it difficult for her to lie.

"I know. I'll answer for it with you... But I want you beside me when it happens." Buffy said.

Faith stepped closer to Buffy and put her hand on Buffy's face, stroking the side lightly.

"Faith..." Buffy pleaded.

Faith leaned in and kissed Buffy on the cheek.

"Yeah. Okay." She gave in to Buffy's pleading face, "I'll...think about it."

IOIOIOI

Faith and Buffy walked out of City Town Hall and crossed the street after "investigating" the murder of which they knew the culprit.

"So the mayor of Sunnydale is a black hat." Faith was back into her normal mask and shield of invincible, barely affected Slayer. "It's a shocker, huh?"

"Actually, yeah. I didn't get the bad guy vibe off him." Buffy loved to just walk and talk with Faith, put things out in the open, joke around, tease, flirt, but for some reason this time it was awkward because they were both still public day time Buffy and Faith, not best friends, but co-workers. They found that they were more like the characters they play than the actors that play them. They aren't always true to themselves off stage. It's easier to be someone else. It's simple when you don't have to be exposed. They used to both be so comfortable with the exposure of their true selves to one another, but lately...

"When are ya gonna learn, B? It doesn't matter what kind of vibe you get off a person, cause 9 times out 10, the face they're showing you is not the real one." Faith smiled and kept walking, but Buffy had stopped.

"I guess you know a lot about that." Buffy said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Faith stepped towards Buffy.

"I've seen your real face, this isn't it. Faith, you're different than this. You love life, and you love me. Are you going to throw that away because of all this?" Buffy went straight to the heart. Faith looked down and shook her head. They were both showing fake faces, and neither one was going to budge.

"We're going to Giles now." Buffy said, taking Faith"s hand.

IOIOIOI

"You don't give up, do you?" Faith stepped out from shadows of the freighter on the docks. Buffy walked under the ramp leading off the freighter and turned to look at Faith.

"Not on the people that are closest to me." Buffy looked up at the Slayer wearing that damn denim jacket.

"If you love me so much, why did your ex boyfriend string me up after I confessed?" She said, "And you didn't seem to mind when he told you."

"He was confused." Buffy watched Faith walked down the ramp and lean on the railing against the side.

"It scares you, doesn't it?" Faith leaned over the railing.

"Yeah it does." Buffy said as Faith climbed off the ramp and onto the dock where she walked up to Buffy, "Running away won't stop the council. I know Wesley shouldn't have called him after we told Giles, but this is not what you need to do."

"That's not it. That's not what bothers you so much." Faith walked until she was so close Buffy, it would be uncomfortable for anyone else to have her that close. Buffy stood her ground as Faith spoke to her, "What bugs you is you know I'm right. You know in your gut we don't need the law. We are the law."

"No." Buffy stated as she turned away and started walking down the docks.

"Yes." Faith said, following the younger Slayer, "You know exactly what I'm about, 'cause you have it in you too."

"No, Faith... You're wrong, this is messing with you."

"I've seen it, B. You've got the lust. And I'm not just talking about screwing vampires and Vampire Slayers." Faith jabbed.

"Don't you dare bring us or him into this." Buffy glared. Somehow, Faith was still pissed off about Angel.

"It was good, wasn't it? The sex? The danger?" Faith grinned, "I bet a part of you even dug Angel when he went pyscho. I bet a part of you digs him more than you ever will for me. That's why you let him hurt me, because you love me, just not as much as you love him."

"No."

"Yes, you want me to toe the line, but I can never push you over, only dead vamps can do that."

Buffy brought up her arm and struck Faith. Faith turned around, her finger pressing where Buffy hit.

"There's my girl." She was filled with rage, filled with anger that the people closest to her had betrayed her.

"No. We're not gonna do this. Not again." Buffy started walking away.

"Why not? It feels good. Blood rising." Faith took Buffy's shoulders and threw her against the wall, pining her down, "You like it. Being with me, being with him. Turns you on to be with somebody supernatural. But you can't have both of us. You have to decide."

All of a sudden, a group of vamps rushed the two Slayers. One grabbed Faith and pulled her off. Faith took on the vamps, fighting with them. Faith threw one into the water and staked the other two with ease. Three, where's four? She looked over to where a vamp was about bite Buffy. Without a moment's hesitation, Faith leapt towards the vampire and staked him in the back.

"Please, Faith." Buffy said.

"Alright... But the choice still stands." Faith dropped the stake on the ground.

-Present-

"Damn. I said all that?" Faith sat back in her chair and stared at the coffee in her hand. The older Slayer tapped her coffee cup lightly, looking at the other girl across the table, "I feel really bad about that."

"You seriously don't remember?" Buffy leaned against the wall, tipping her chair back.

"Well, kinda. I remember the docks, and you... But the coma makes it hell to remember anything specific." Faith was tapping a bit more angrily now.

"So... After that... I was kind of dating both of you, which was really crazy. For about 5 days... Then I saw you whenever the mayor told you to put the moves on Angel... And afterward..."

"You told me it was over between us. I remember that." Faith sipped her coffee, watching the sunrise over the tops of the Santa Barbara buildings, "Because I cried like some kid." Faith gripped the coffee cup tightly.

"Seriously? You cried over me?" Buffy looked at Faith who was looking at the tightly held cup.

"I loved you and trusted you, B." Faith said, "Trust. Something you and I are still workin' on."

"Takes time." Buffy looked out the window at the orange light of dusk once more.

"So that's when Angel pulled a jack on me?" Faith swallowed, "And I pulled a jack over his jack."

"Yeah..." Buffy said, trying not to think about it.

"Did I ever do anything extreme?"

"You kissed me once. In front of everyone." Buffy looked at Faith's surprised expression, "But it was on the head, so I don't think they noticed."

"I remember it now. I did it because ya couldn't kill me." Faith drank the last of her coffee and realized she had been drinking it more out of nervousness than anything.

"I fought you over and over again, and every time we got within inches of taking the others life... And we never did it." Buffy tossed her coffee cup into the trash can on the opposite side of the room. Faith smiled and tossed her own coffee into the same trash can directly behind her.

"Show-off." Buffy shook her head as a smirk slipped onto Faith's mouth. Buffy stood up and took Faith's hand, "Let's go."

"Where?" Faith asked, standing up.

"Video store." Buffy said, walking out of the coffee shop hand in hand with the other Slayer.

XOXOXOX

Author's Notes: So, I'm not throwing many plot twists at you yet, but there's definitely a lot that's going to change between the two of them. I hope you guys check back everyday, since there's bound to be a new chapter. Thanks for the support.


	8. Chapter 8

"Fright Night?" Faith read the case of the movie, "1985?" She turned the case over.

"It's a good movie." Buffy said as she started the TV and put the movie in. Buffy walked back from the TV and crawled onto the bed next to Faith.

"A vampire movie?" Faith snickered, "Don't you get enough of that already?"

"This is the only movie that gets it pretty much spot on." Buffy slid into Faith's hold.

"Buffy... I had this dream." Faith said, "And you were there, with Angel. He killed you... And I couldn't stop it... So I stopped myself."

"Faith. Don't worry. Never ever again will we go through that." Buffy said.

"Buffy. I don't know what's gonna happen in L.A., but it could be hell. I mean, yeah, we have this vamp turning people in Santa Barbara to worry about, but I think facing Angel will be even worse."

"There will be no facing Angel. We'll meet with Angel. That's-" Buffy was interrupted by the phone.

"Probably Cordelia." Faith murmured.

"Yeah." Buffy picked up the phone, "Buffy Summers."

"I think we found the nest." Cordelia said, "Sounds like Slayer paradise. Meet me at this address tomorrow morning?"

- One Year Ago -

Faith was laying on top of Buffy on the couch. Buffy's mom was on a business trip for the gallery and whenever Buffy's mom was out of town, Faith literally lived at the house. Faith's thigh was situated between Buffy's leg, right up against her center. Faith's other leg was sliding into the couch cushions. Buffy's hands ran around on Faith's back as they lay there. Faith stroked the side of Buffy's face, kissing the younger Slayer's cheek. The TV was running, but neither of the vampire killers were paying much attention. It was simply inane noise. They just laid there, idly kissing and whispering into each others ears. It wasn't active or fluid, it was just nice, simple. There was no need to scream or cry. There was no reason to hold a conversation. There definitely was no reason to watch the movie when they had each other to look at. The whispering and the low chatter of the TV was just enough white noise to keep them focused on the other person without awkwardness.

"You know what?" Faith whispered into Buffy's ear.

"Mmm... What?" Buffy breathed.

"You're really fucking hot." Faith taunted like she had been.

"Yeah?" Buffy played along like she did so often, "Not bad yourself."

"Hmm..." Faith wiped at Buffy's face lightly, kissing her on the cheek again. It was such a surreal moment. Everything was so easy. They hadn't fought in quite a while, and they were closer than they ever had been. Something was just so perfect. A simple kiss on the forehead and cheek, nothing much.

"So who do ya think did it?" Faith changed the subject, refering to the cop show on TV.

"The guy that owns the coffee shop's wife." Buffy said, glancing at the TV briefly.

"That was last episode, B." Faith gave a soft laugh.

"I'm not really paying much attention." Buffy admitted, "I have other things to pay attention to."

Faith kissed Buffy on the lips, smothered yet another ember between them.

"B, do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" Buffy turned slightly so they were looking at each other.

"Smile." Faith said.

"Why?" Buffy smiled regardless and looked at Faith.

"I love your smile, B." Faith kissed Buffy's smile away, "I also like It how you open your mouth when you moan. I like a lot of things about ya, B."

"mmhmm..." Buffy said through a groan as she kissed Faith again, "Whatever you say, Fay."

They kissed for another minute, then suddenly Faith stopped and laughed.

"What?" Buffy gave the other girl a puzzled look.

"It's just... This moment. I'll remember it." Faith said, "Even when we aren't right next to each other, I'll always remember being here, next to you."

Faith kissed Buffy again.

- Present -

Buffy jumped at the sight of Faith in the cold room. It was dark. Everything was so dark. Buffy felt isolated, alone, so far away from everyone she loved, knew, and trusted. Buffy ran towards Faith, but when she got there, Faith just stared at Buffy, her eyes seemed sad and dull. Buffy felt Faith touch her back, and hug her, but there was no warmth at all. Her body was cold... her own body was cold too. Buffy reached for Faith's face, pulling her into a kiss, but there was no spark . Any normal day, they could have burnt the Hindenburg, but here in this void of existence, it was just a kiss. Nothing special. Buffy yearned to feel something, and emotion of any kind. She kissed Faith again, and there was nothing. Faith tilted her head, giving a are-you-up-to-something-I-can-tease-you-about? look. Faith didn't say a word, though. Buffy wanted to feel anything at all. To come out of that numbness that is nothingness. She tried to laugh, to cry, but nothing worked. Buffy started to feel frustrated, but she couldn't feel angry or upset. Buffy took out her knife and ran it along the palm of her hand, the pain sliced through the ice cold feeling. She looked up and Faith was gone. Then, Buffy was standing in Faith's old motel room she stayed at for the longest time. They were fighting, yelling at each other. She saw herself engaged in a heated argument with Faith. She remembered the night before, they were closer than they ever had been. Now they were yelling and screaming for some unimportant reason. Faith had let Buffy get close, and felt she got too close, right? That was it, too much commitment. They had to stay at arm's length or their relationship self destructed. They would try to fix it by sleeping together or kissing or killing and it only made the feelings more shallow.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled.

Buffy opened her eyes. Slayer dreams again? This was getting strange. The light that fell through the messy curtains of their Santa Barbra motel fell across the bed in slats like a ladder made of light. Buffy looked up to see Faith drying her hair off with a towel. The whtie tank top and loose blue jeans meant casual, which meant slaying. Buffy sat up and blinked in the light. She saw Faith finish up and pull on a T-shirt.

"I had one hell of a dream." Buffy said.

"Yeah? Me too." Faith said.

"I don't think we should go on this together." Buffy stated, turning to Faith. Her dream scared her because she knew that her dream was how Buffy coped. Shutting off her emotions, and she always gets hurt. She was mad at herself for dragging Faith this far into her problems. Buffy started to doubt that she deserved to have Faith helping her. She did of course, almost cheat on Faith, lie to Faith, hurt Faith so much.

"What? What the hell is wrong with you, B? First you have this break and you won't tell me anything, even after I completely spilled to ya?" Faith turned to Buffy, anger rising, "Now you don't want me to go slaying with you? I can't be a part of your life if you don't tell me what's going on!"

Buffy felt the anger rise too, "Because I don't know what's going on with me. One minute my life is zippity-doo-da-day, then everything is screwed up!"

"Then let me in. Let me help you, B." Faith bit her lip, looking down at Buffy.

"I can't... everytime I let you in, we get too close." Buffy looked down at the sheets.

"Too close-what? What are you talking about?" Faith shook her head.

"I'm talking about us. We get close, then we're fighting... Can we just... not get close?" Buffy wasn't sure what she was saying, but she didn't want to fight with Faith.

"Getting close... isn't that the whole fucking point, B? To get close? I know we get a little too much passion and things get tangled, but it's different now."

"It isn't! We're the same people, just older and now with less to lose, we're going to make mistakes. I think we should just... slow down, avoid mistakes."

"Avoid mistakes? I think you don't trust me... don't trust us."

Buffy remained silent. It was the heart of the problem, trust. Things moved so quickly she had all but forgotten about all the things they still had to work through, now she wanted that time back. She knew something was bound to mess up, and she didn't want that to happen.

"Exactly. I'm going to get coffee. Be back in five." Faith grumbled as she grabbed the key to the room and stomped out the door. Buffy watched as the door slammed shut. One minute they were closer than ever, and by trying not to repeat the same mistake, she had ended up causing it to be worse. Damn it.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Apparently there was a screw-up or something with the chapters when I tried to fix it, I made it worse, just please go back a chapter or two to the last thing you remember and read again. Sorry for the inconvience.

XOXOXOX

Faith roamed down the streets towards a coffee shop she'd wanted to try. She wanted to think about anything but Buffy, but they more she tried to think not to think about it, the more she did think about it. Buffy Anne Summers, the single greatest thing that had ever happened to her. She thought about her all the time, it was onl natural. Buffy's hair, Buffy's clothes, Buffy's smile, it was all in her head. Every moment she was away from Buffy, she wanted to be close to Buffy, and every moment she was close to Buffy, she wanted to scream for joy. Now, she wanted to do this day over, take back what they had said when they woke up. She wanted so badly to feel Buffy hug her and say it was okay, but she knew better. She knew she had to stay away from her for a little bit or this whole thing would repeat itself.

Faith angrily stomped through the door to coffee shop. She felt absolutely ridiculous buying coffee at 3:00 pm. She and Buffy had slept through most of the day, but there wasn't nearly enough time to get to where the vampire nest was and then take em' out. Faith ordered her coffee and leaned over the counter and waited for her coffee. There was a guy next to her blowing on his coffee. He was a little taller than Faith and had his hair gelled up in a very "cool guy" fashion, although he didn't look like he was trying too hard to pull off the look. He blew on his cup and someone bumped into him. Instantly, the coffee flew forward and he started to forward. Faith grabbed the cup out of the air and pushed the palm of her hand against the gu's chest to stop him from falling. Faith sat the coffee cup on the counter and helped the guy back up.

"Nice reflexes." He smiled, fixing his jacket and shirt.

"I work out." Faith shrugged.

"Have I seen you around here?" He asked.

"Maybe. I got in town yesterday, road trip sorta thing. Up all night." Faith said, taking her coffee and sitting down.

"Welcome to Santa Barbra then. I'm Jack. Jack Holt." He said, "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Faith... Lehane and sure, I need someone to talk to." Faith nodded. Jack sat down at the table, drinking his coffee. She didn't see him put much sugar in his coffee, but there wasn't very many check marks on the cup. Man takes his coffee strong.

"Don't worry, I was up late too. Got up a couple of hours ago." Jack said, drinking his coffee.

"What kept you up?" Faith asked.

"Fighting crime. Just like every other night. What about you?" He grinned, and Faith assumed he was just kidding.

I was fighting vampires, saving tons of people's lives and possibly yours she thought. "Something a bit different."

"Being modest? I'm sure you were saving the world." He said. Faith felt paranoia creep in for a moment, then realized he was joking and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, well, this super hero doesn't fight criminals." She said.

"No. You're crime is more of what goes bump in the night, am I right?" He sipped his coffee casually and ended that sentence with a serious note.

"Wanna tell me what you're talking about?" Faith stopped drinking her coffee as she felt every muscle in her body tense up. Her posture, however, remained relaxed. Jack leaned over the table, closer to Faith's face and dropped his voice to a low whisper.

"Demons, vampires, ghosts." He whispered.

"What do ya want from me?" She whispered back.

"I don't know what you are, but I know what you fight. I fight it too." He said, "I saw you fighting last night. I'm kinda running solo right now. Thought I could use a hire."

"Are you crazy?"

"Actually, no. You see, most people don't get the dedication, the work ethic, the need to kill to get everything off your chest and feel like you did the world a favor. Even fewer people understand that sometimes you gotta bend the rules. Sometimes you have to play god." His words ran through Faith's mind, they sounded like her thoughts. It was everything she had ever thought was right. It was like he was her... Almost a morphed reflection of her own morals. Jack put a business card on the table.

"Call me." he said as he got up and left. Faith stared at him as he walked out the door. She saw him move so casually, so confidently. She was staring a lot. Faith tore her eyes away from the guy and turned her attention back to her coffee. He was attractive, but she had Buffy... Faih glanced once more at the guy as he walked around the block.

XOXOXOX

What did she say? How could she have said that to Faith? She didn't mean to... She meant something else entirely... Or did she? Buffy felt her heart become heavy with worry. All of a sudden, she felt guilty, knowing Faith wasn't going to burst in through the door, getting very huggy and happy. She screwed up again and has nobody else to blame. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the motel door.

"B?" A familiar voice said, the door shutting.

"I'm here." Buffy said in reply.

"Ready to tell me what's wrong with ya?" Faith sat down on the bed next to Buffy.

"Yeah... It's just that I'm worried that if we do what we've always done, we'll always get what we always got. I think what we got was awesome at times, but it could also suck so much. And this whole thing with Cordelia and the dreams..." Buffy started.

"You're dreaming about Cordelia? I thought I was the only girl you had the hots for, B?" Faith accused.

"No! Cordelia and I are just, like, old half-friends... I mean, she's a nice looking girl, but-" Buffy rambled, then looked at Faith who was smiling. Buffy actually laughed when she realized it was a joke, "I get it, Fay. Lighten up. Gotcha. Well, I just think we need to..."

Hug. Kiss. Hold. Go back to normal. Apologize. Have everything be okay. Be happy again. Forget it all happened. Faith would have bee happy with any of those things, but instead Buffy emotionally stakes Faith in the heart by saying, "Slow things down. Work through the problems first." It felt horrible to feel those words split Faith in two. One half was okay with the idea, knowing it's what Buffy wanted. She was madly in love with the girl, she could wait. Then, the other half knew that she was madly in love with the girl too, and was furious. Everything was fine until the Slayer dreams, which Faith had been having too, came back, then they both started wallowing in their fears and anxieties and it was all downhill from there.

"Okay. I guess, if that's what you want." Faith said, making no effort to disguise the disdain in her voice. Buffy needed to think, so she remembered what time it was.

"Faith, you know, it's almost five o'clock. I can go out and grab us some food." Buffy said. Honestly, they were both starving so it sounded like a good idea regardless.

"Yeah, fine." Faith said. Buffy threw on her marron jacket and headed out the door. Faith sat in silence for a few minutes before picking up Buffy's phone and dialing. The line rang for a moment, then a voice came on.

"Jack Holt, Supernatural Investigator."


	10. Chapter 10

Faith walked across the street to a small building with Jack Holt S.I. on the window. She opened the door and saw that it was a really small office with two desks, a coffee machine on a table, some filing cabinets, and what looked like a doorway into a back room. Faith stepped inside the small room and a bell rang. Jack stuck his head out of the doorway to the back room and smiled.

"Faith Lehane." He said happily as he traversed the labyrinth of paper stacks on the ground. He pulled a chair up in front of the desk and sat down behind the desk. He didn't say anything else, but Faith would have sat down even if he had told her to stand. The chair was really cheap and therefore extremely uncomfortable.

"So, what's this job offer all about?" Faith kicked her feet up on the desk at almost the same time as Jack. Faith thought it awkward, but Jack simply smiled.

"Have you heard of Angel Investigations in L.A.?" He said, fixing the tie that was previously sliding in to the fabric of his black sports coat.

"Yeah, I know Angel." Faith bit her lip.

"I do the same stuff, except I don't hide anything, and I'm definitely not anything like Angel." Jack picked up a pen off the table and started spinning it around on his fingers with ease.

"So, you're like a ghost hunter?" Faith looked at his eyes. She couldn't help but think how crisp and sharp the blue in his eye was compared to Buffy's. Why was she thinking about Buffy right now?

"Not exactly. I hunt, but more than just ghosts. Anyways, I may be moving at the end of the month and I think I heard that you were on a road trip of sorts. I can give you a paying job working for me and it'll be pretty good stability. I saw you kicking some vamp ass, so I don't think I need to hear your qualifications. I would love to hire you, just tell me before the end of the month." He put the pen down and stood up. He walked over to the other side of the desk, which must have been some cue for Faith to get up, so she did. She looked at his eyes again. They were really entrancing. "You'll wing back bySanta Barbara?"

"I'll see what I can do." Faith said. She liked this guy's style. Short, sweet, to the point. He packed a lot of meaning behind his words and held short conversations that felt like they were something much bigger. It was that something bigger behind his words that compelled her to call the number. She hadn't seriously considered settling down and working somewhere, especially at Buffy's expense, but this guy made it sound so simple. Maybe that's how things should be. Simple. Faith turned to leave, but suddenly felt like she should say something. She nervously turned back around, avoiding looking into his eyes at first, but drifting up to them again before she had time to speak. He raised his eyebrows, questioning her without a single word. Unspoken communication was definitely his game. "I wanted to say that I get it."

"Get it?" He repeated.

"The sense of duty, the need to help people... The playing god. Everything you said is what I've told myself was right my whole life and up until yesterday everyone had told me those were the wrong ideas. I mean, helping people is great. One hell of a gig... but they never told me it was cool to devote everything to that. I guess I just never met someone else who thought the same way." That was a speech according to Faith. She usually tried to get to the point much sooner than that. Maybe Buffy was rubbing off on her. Every time she thought of Buffy, it made her stomach twist, so she looked Jack in the eyes once again.

"You had it right, Faith. People feel the same way, but they don't have what you have. The guts to admit it's true. They'll swear they don't want that life, but they really do. We all want to be heroes... Only we embrace it." Jack took a step towards Faith and put his hand on her should. Electric sparks ran through her shoulder, neck and arm at his touch. He looked at her. He was a bit taller then her, so her head was tilted back ever so slightly to adjust for the angle. He gave a half-smile and looked her in the eyes. Every time she looked at them everything else fell away. Buffy? Who's Buffy?

XOXOXOX

Buffy jumped Faith as soon as she opened the door. He arms wrapped around Faith neck and she gave a slightly off attack hug. That's Buffy. Faith smiled as Buffy pulled back.

"Missed you too, B." Faith said. Faith walked into the motel room and threw her jacket on to the chair in the corner.

"I missed you more, Faith." Buffy said, following Faith inside, "Where were you?"

"Just meeting with somebody." Faith said. She clicked on the TV to some news channel and nearly threw herself into the bed. She rolled over and rested her head against the head board.

"Friend?" Buffy climbed on to the bed. Apparently she went for a run since she was still catching her breath and had her tighter work-out clothes on.

Faith thought it over for a moment, then decided Buffy was better off not knowing, "Yeah."

Buffy ran her fingers lightly up Faith's arm.

"What?" Faith brushed Buffy's hand off.

"Trying to get your attention." Buffy let a wicked smile play on her lips.

"Oh, yeah? What for?" Faith turned to her side and looked at the blonde. Faith looked at Buffy's soft eyes, so much less fine than Jack's, but positively endearing.

"This." Buffy put her hand on the side of Faith's face and gently reeled her into a kiss. Buffy's tongue ran across Faith's lip and Faith parted her mouth. Buffy entangled her hand in Faith's hair and pressed their faces even closer together. Faith snaked her hand around Buffy's side and on to her back. She used that grasp to pull the smaller girl closer to herself. Faith pressed her tongue into Buffy's and heat swelled around them. The fireworks were the same as usual, but it was the same song. Not that it was boring, just that it was familiar. Kissing was a comfort food of sorts to Faith, always has been, but that makes Buffy chips and macaroni and cheese. Wasn't Buffy the one that wanted to slow the relationship down? Weren't they just fighting only a few hours earlier? Now Faith's leg was moving up and down against Buffy's and a hand played across her stomach. Faith would have been upset with Buffy still, except she's completely head over heels for the chick. Buffy somehow made the kiss into something stronger, and it hit Faith as odd all of the sudden. Faith eased out of the kiss and looked at the subject of her undying love.

"What are we doing, B?" She said in almost a whisper.

"Kissing." Buffy breathed.

"I thought we were slowing down." Faith felt Buffy retract at the comment. All contact was lost and Faith regretted it, but this had to be solved.

"Did you have to bring it up?" Buffy said to the ceiling.

"Yeah, I think I need clarification." Faith felt that devil whisper of doubt in her head. It wasn't like she didn't want to be with Buffy, she just wanted to know if Buffy wanted to be with her, "I mean, it all happened wicked fast, and we motored out of Sunny D in a hurry, are you looking back?"

"Faith, I'm not looking back. I just thought you wouldn't understand if I explained our problems." Buffy and Faith were not on the same page.

"Alright. I'm done with the games, B. I've had one hell of a week, and I'm making a last ditch effort." Faith took a deep breath and continued, "I think you're the first person I've loved with all my heart. I'm crazy for you. If you told me to dance the can-can on a damn bridge, I'd do it to keep you... But if you don't trust me enough to tell me these things, maybe I need to let it go. I don't want to... This has been the most amazing thing in my fucked up life, but I don't want to be in this relationship if you don't love me." Faith finished her peace and let the silence set in. All she could think about was Buffy, but lately, things seemed to be screwed up, and Buffy didn't make it better.


	11. Chapter 11

Faith played on Buffy's heart strings like an expert on the harp. Tears threatened to well over Buffy's eyes. This hadn't happened before. The problems they had were never dissolved or taken care of they were just forgotten in the heat of passion. Buffy wasn't sure what happened. She ran away from everything to be with Faith, and hadn't ever thought about what was left behind. She knew she would come back eventually, it wouldn't be too long... Her friends just wouldn't understand. The only problem with having Faith back was all the memories. Her flashbacks played like films in her mind every time she saw something nostalgic. Then came the fears that plagued their relationship before. Faith never wanted to face their problems. Now Faith was finally willing to face the problem, but Buffy didn't think Faith would understand if she explained the problems in their relationship. Buffy looked away from Faith in an attempt to avoid the whole thing all together. Faith would have none of it, though.

Faith took Buffy's chin and brought her head back up to stare into the brunette's eyes. "Please, Buffy. Tell me if you love me, if you want me around. Just talk to me."

Once again, Faith was vulnerable. Only when they were alone. Only when they were intimate. Only then would she open up and show her softer side. Buffy never felt the impact of Faith vulnerability until she was staring it in the eyes. Why did Faith suddenly feel so insecure? Why did she want to tackle their issues now without fighting? Buffy realized they had never done those things before. They had never worked out their problems. They just simply hid them in the dark and let them grow and germinated until the problem was so big it caused them to fall apart.

"Faith... I love you. I always loved you. I just keep thinking that this is going to be just like before. It's like I can't have anything normal because I'm the slayer. I just want us to be different." Buffy knew her explanation was lacking, but she couldn't read what Faith was thinking, so she rambled like always.

"Different?" Faith asked, her emotions obviously holed up in her mind somewhere because her face was relaxed as ever. Buffy searched for words, but they were hiding in her mind. She remained silent, staring at a desperate look passing on to Faith's face. "B... Please. I'll do anything for you. I'll apologize to Angel, I'll forget the whole thing... Just tell me me I can still hold you tonight and call you mine." Faith pleaded with Buffy.

"Faith... I think we should-" at that moment, the phone rang. Faith swore under her breath and remembered that they had an engagement. Buffy shut her mouth and rolled over. She pulled the phone off the receiver and spoke into it, "Buffy Sum-"

"Where the hell are you two? Get your asses here!" Cordelia screamed.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia. We just-" With a click the line went dead. Buffy hung up the phone and got off of the bed. Faith pulled on her red jacket and smiled at Buffy. "I think Cordelia's gonna be nastier than the vamps."

Faith gave a brief laugh and turned to head out the door.

XOXOXOX

"Why do you think he wants this many other vampires?" Buffy said as she pulled a stake out of a vampire's heart. She ducked a hit from one behind her and kicked the one in front her in the stomach. Yet another vamp struggled away from the sunlight that was burning it. It fell into flames before Buffy.

"Lonely?" Faith grunted as she threw a vampire over her shoulder onto one she had previously pushed to the ground. A kick was slammed into Faith's side and she doubled back. She shrugged off the kick and punched her attacker in the shin, he fell into the path of the window Buffy had busted through and caught on fire. Faith stabbed one of the vamps on the ground and kicked the one below it square in the chest to stop it's attempted lunge.

"Just seems odd, unless he's building an army." Buffy casually carried the conversation as she staked yet another vampire. She looked up and saw what must have been the harbinger of this mess. He was sitting in a chair with a camera, snapping pictures of Buffy and Faith fighting off the vampires. He was very nonchalant and comfortable watching his 'army' fall. Her thoughts were interrupted by an attacker latching onto her back, going straight for her neck. Buffy flipped on to her back and crushed the vampire behind her. She rolled off him and found herself facing another vamp. She ducked a swing and saw Faith fighting the vampire behind Buffy. They were a team, and their dynamic has really improved in a few fights. Buffy returned blows with the bloodsucker in front of her and staked his heart once he was against the wall. She turned to see the vamp smile as he got up and started walking towards a door. She felt Faith's lips press against the back of her neck quickly. Faith moved to Buffy's ear and briefly whispered in her ear, "I've got your back, B." Faith turned to face another wave of the undead creeps.

With Faith's words in her mind, she lunged forward and and mad a scramble for the door. She grabbed the door handle and threw it wide open, staggering into the darkness. Everything was so thickly covered in the void of nothingness that Buffy reached out and tried to find a wall. Buffy felt along the wall, following the sounds of footsteps, her Slayer-vision was barely enough to keep her stable. He was moving faster than her and knew where he was going. More importantly, he could see in the dark. Buffy felt the texture of the wall change to maybe panels or tiles. She moved across the wall in the direction this guy was moving, and found a switch. In an instant, Buffy flipped the switch and the room blurred with light. Her instincts kicked in and she saw the form of the vampire moving towards a door. She rocketed towards the form, but felt a loss of traction when her foot slipped on something slick. The blonde Slayer tumbled to the floor. She fell flat on her back and gasped as the air was pushed out of her lungs. There was a clattering and laughing as the mastermind escaped out of the back door. He was gone.

"Damn it! I lost him!" Buffy yelled. She waited for the world to regain some sense of stability before standing up. She held her throbbing head and looked down at the floor.

"Damn it!" Faith echoed, moving towards the room. Buffy looked curiously at the object that brought about her accident. It was a glossy 5 by 7 piece of paper. Buffy picked it up and heart stopped for a moment. It was a picture of her and Faith kissing against the side of a crypt. Buffy felt her stomach flip as a sickening realization of what the strangely textured wall was.

"So, if he's building an army, who's the target?" Faith said, obviously having finished off the vampires. Buffy looked up at the wall next to her in horror.

"Us." She concluded soberly, staring at the wall lined with hundreds of photographs. Buffy's eyes were taken to the biggest grouping of these photos, which was composed of her and Faith. Seperately, and together, the two Slayers filled nearly half the wall. Everything from Buffy, Willow, and Xander at the pizza shop to Buffy and Faith fused at the mouth in any number of places.

"Us?" Faith questioned as she approached the room, but as soon as she walked in, she knew what Buffy meant. "Guess we have a fan." Faith stared in

"More like a stalker." Buffy said as she scanned through the earliest dated photos, before Faith. She ran her fingers over the smooth photo paper and looked into her past. She looked so much happier back then. A sophmore in high school and so much happier and carefree.

"This stalker has pics of me before I met ya, B. Starting when I became the Slayer." Faith moved through the photos more quickly than Buffy. She stopped at one photo and felt her face flush. "Holy shit." Faith breathed as she took the photo off the wall and turned to Buffy.

"Hey, B... This photo is kind of... Uhm... Explicit." Faith felt the awkwardness slide into her usually crude speech. Buffy turned away from her memories and looked at Faith's face. It was flushed red. Buffy took the photo and felt her face burn too as she looked at it.

"God, we have to hide this from Cordelia." Buffy said as she shoved the picture into her pocket. Faith shook her head.

"Yeah, but there's a hell of a lot more." Faith said weakly. Buffy looked at the wall where Faith was and felt flustered at the site of her and Faith in blackmail worthy positions. "We can't hide that."

"Hide what?" Came Cordelia's voice, "There you are. I was starting to think there were too m-" Cordelia stopped mid-sentence as she walked into the room.

"Cordelia..." Buffy said, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Is that me?" Cordelia rushed over to a different part of the wall further down, "And Angel?"

Cordelia was indeed on the wall along with Angel. Not only was there Faith and Buffy, but assorted photos of Angel from the moment he came to Sunnydale. There were pictures of when Angel and buffy were still together. Then it transitioned to L.A. This guy was targeting people all over California that were hunting vampires and demons. Cordelia turned to see Buffy and Faith's red hot faces, and raised her eyebrows. "What's up with you two?" She looked at the wall, and ran her fingers over the pictures as she walked towards the part of the stalker's collection that Buffy was looking away from. Cordelia stopped and looked at exactly what they wished she'd have skipped over. As opposed to Buffy and Faith's lobster colored faces, all the color was drained from her usually rosey face.

"Wow... That's really... perverted." Cordelia said, putting the picture down on the table. She turned to look at the girls that were staring very intently at the floor. Maybe it was the fact that this guy had been following them for so long, or maybe it was the fact that what they did felt a lot less raunchy when they were doing it. They were both thoroughly embarrassed. Cordelia took the iniative and turned to look at other pictures of people they didn't know.

"Most everyone else has a red dot by their name... and there are clippings from the obits." Cordelia noticed, taking up the pictures and clippings.

"A hit list." Faith said, regaining some sense of dignity, "We should take these pictures and lists, and videos." Faith glanced over at the stacks of VHS tapes with names labeled on them.

"You're right. We should take these to Angel." Cordelia said, watching Buffy walk along the wall to the people she didn't know. Buffy picked out one picture dated today and looked at it very carefully.

"Give Angel pictures of Buffy and me screwing? How is that a good idea?" Faith glared and the idiot in front of her. Faith rolled her eyes and looked at the list of people. She read down the list of people with a red dot next to them, stopping on one in particular. "Jack." Faith looked at the red dot next to his name and dropped the list.

"Yeah, I was wondering who he is." Buffy said, a very different inflection in her voice as she asked the question than before.

"What?" Faith turned to see Buffy staring at a certain picture.

"Who's Jack Holt?" Buffy didn't stop looking at the photograph.

"A... friend." Faith said, watching Buffy's eyes stare at that damned piece of paper. Cordelia sighed and leaned against the desk in the room, idly messing with her nails.

"So you kiss your friends?" Buffy said, her eyes locking on to Faith's, registering the fear and shock that swelled through the brunette's face. Buffy held up the photo that was shot through the window that said 'Jack Holt, Supernatural Investigator'. Far more interesting was that the date and time indicated it happened earlier in the day, and Faith's lips were engaged in a kiss with Jacks.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: Sorry to screw with the happiness of the fic, but I assure you that things get better... but first they have to get worse.

XOXOXOX

"It was just a kiss." Faith said defensively. She looked across at the picture and winced, feeling far more guilty than she should.

"Just a kiss? Like it was just a kiss with Xander?" Buffy said pointedly.

"Oh, so just a kiss with Angel is fine, but as soon as I have a guy that makes a move on me, it's suddenly a problem?" Faith glared daggers at Buffy.

"This isn't about Angel." Buffy put the picture down on the desk.

"This isn't about Xander." Faith swiped the same picture into her own hands.

"Glad we've got that settled. Can we go?" Cordelia said. Both of the Slayers turned their icy stares to her.

"She's right. We're losing time. I have to tell Jack this guy is coming for him." Faith looked up at Buffy and held out the picture, "Take this. You two can stay here and gather up all this stuff then take it to the motel room."

"Like we take orders from you?" Cordelia said in her usual annoying way.

"Listen to her, Cordelia." Buffy said softly, the intensity of her look completely gone.

"Do you do everything she says?" Cordelia asked in disbelief. Cordelia had never really understood the dynamic of their relationship. It made far more sense if you were in it as opposed to being an outsider. "She's going to see the guy she was kissing a little while ago _alone,_ and you're just letting her."

Buffy couldn't believe how insensitive Cordelia could be sometimes. It was almost like she had no soul sometimes when making her comments. "I trust Faith." Buffy said and believed. Faith turned to look at Buffy, trying to see if she meant it. Buffy did mean it. Of course she wasn't happy that Faith was kissing some guy behind her back and hiding it from her, but it was more important that they work as a team to figure out what the hell was going on right now instead of fighting. To do this, they had to trust each other. Buffy nodded and Faith walked out the door.

"You guys are so weird." Cordelia said, turning to the wall of photos. She started at the red dots and picked the photos off of the wall one by one. Buffy kicked a box over and emptied it of the camera parts and manuals. She threw the box between Cordelia and herself, then started picking the photos of her off the wall. She couldn't help but feel nostalgic about every single glossy photograph as she put them into the box.

"Yeah, well, if you knew us better, you might understand." Buffy said.

XOXOXOX

Faith wasted no time in bursting through the door of Jack's office. She found him sitting at his desk, reading through a document. He stopped and looked up at her, smiling as he did so.

"Faith." He said, a grin widening as he stood up to see her, "How are you?"

Faith didn't answer, she dropped the blinds on the large window with the decals spelling out Jack's name on it, then turned to him and grabbed that black sports coat. She pulled him into the back room and dropped the blinds in that room too, checking to make sure the vampire hadn't ventured into the back alley with his camera in the long shadows of dusk.

"Aren't we moving a little fast here Faith?" He snickered.

God, he sounded just like her. He would never do anything though, he respected her way too much. She had a feeling he would. He just sounded so much like her whenever he spoke. She ignored the comment for the greater good, though.

"Someone's after you." She handed him the list of names.

"I know some of these guys. I'm guessing the red dots are no longer in operation." He scanned the list.

"Kicked the bucket. Sporting nasty bite marks too." She finally finished checking the alley and turned around to face Jack Holt.

"Vamps are after me? No big deal, Faithy." He was a lot like Faith was before the coma. Always on a nickname basis with people. He was likable, you didn't want to stay mad at him. He knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it, even if he had to jump through loops. He didn't dance around the point, he got right to it. He somehow managed to say things that, coming from anyone else would have sounded raunchy, but just felt normal when it came from him. All in all, he was a reliable guy, and people trusted him. As long as that trust didn't impede in his work, he kept up his end too. He was a lot like Faith was, but he's a bit more mature, more worldly. Just by talking to him, you'd know he's seen the dark side of the world, maybe even walked that line a couple times, but never fell over into the wrong. Although he definitely dabbled in being God. Definitely felt the rules were under his thumb, and sometimes that made it look like he was in the shadows of morality. In reality, he just travels in shades of gray. Faith stared at him for a moment, reveling in the realization, but was quickly pulled back to reality.

"Well, he's got an army. He's after you." Faith watched the dark clouded sky through the blinds. The cloud cover wasn't a good thing, if it blocks out the sun, this guy will have more mobility. Worse yet, it's cold and might rain, making this battle sway in his favor.

"After you too, Faithy... and Angel, and Buffy Summers. There's a bracket connecting your name and hers." He ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Faith.

"She's... my partner. Have you ever heard about the Slayer?" Faith lifted herself up onto the counter. He must have used this room as a break room since there was a microwave, mini fridge, and counter.

"Yeah. Girl chosen to fight vampires, super strength, super heroine. I've heard the tales. Heard this girl hails from little old Sunnydale." He stopped and looked at Faith, her eyes glinting back at him in focus. "Aren't you from Sunnydale?"

"Give the man a prize." Faith joked, feeling the danger of the situation eased having Jack in the room. He just makes people feel comfortable. "Yes, I'm from Sunnydale. Not born there, but it does the trick."

"So you're the Slayer?"

"_A _Slayer. Not _the _Slayer. Buffy was _the_ Slayer, until she died, and I was called to be her replacement. Buffy however, wasn't dead for long, and came back, still a Slayer. Now we're both Slayers. We're a team. The Chosen Two." Faith ran her finger along the cracks in the tile on the counter top as she gauged Jack's reaction. He was lost for a moment, but the choppy story somehow made sense in his head after putting it together. Faith was never good at explaining stuff.

"So what now?" He asked.

"You come back with me, it's not safe here. I'll introduce you to our team of misfits and we'll head to L.A. Get this damn mess straightened out." She said firmly. The course of action wasn't the most brilliant, but it seemed like the only way to avoid trouble. Maybe if they left soon, they could get out of Santa Barbara and get over to L.A. quickly. They could contact Angel and go from there. Right now they had to get out of here though."

"I like a woman that takes charge. Okay, I'll gather up some stuff and we can go. Do you want to give me the address, then go on ahead and I'll go gather some stuff at my apartment?" He offered.

"No. I want to stay with you." Faith said quickly, "I mean, I think it's safer to go in pairs. Fight the vampire horde together if we have to." She wanted to go see Buffy, but she was so comfortable around Jack. She didn't want him hurt... She didn't know what she wanted. All she knew is that a year ago, she would have made no waste to go to this guy's apartment with him. He was so damn perfect... But then again, it isn't a year ago. Faith stood up, still sound in her decision and followed Jack through the door.

XOXOXOX

"You guys are so cute here. Faith has a romantic side, I guess." Cordelia said, watching the poor quality video on the VCR. Buffy turned to see a familiar night. Faith was holding Buffy to try to keep her warm in her old motel room.

"It gets kinda explicit after that." Buffy warned.

"Explicit?" Cordelia turned to look at Buffy who was sorting through the oldest of the photos.

"There's just no being subtle with you is there?" Buffy said, walking over and handing Cordelia a stack of pictures. "Here. You sort, I'll watch the video. Save your virgin mind." Cordelia rolled her eyes as she sat down on the bed where Buffy previously was and started sorting through the photos. Cordelia was in quite a few of the photos as time progressed. Around the second year that Buffy was at Sunnydale High is when Cordelia became a regular in the drama of Buffy Summer's life.

"How do you know I'm still a virgin?" Cordelia asked.

"Because no guy would get past the 'what about you?' part of the date." Faith said as she burst through the door with Jack Holt in tow. Cordelia looked up at Jack, then back down at the photos, but immediately pulled a double take to the handsome face. She jumped off the bed and ran over to Jack, putting out her hand to shake it. Buffy shut the VCR off, also eager to meet this man, but for a very different reason.

"Cordelia Chase, and you are?" Cordelia said.

"Jack. Jack Holt." He said, shaking Cordelia's hand. He didn't give her a second look, much to Cordelia's dismay. He made a beeline straight for Buffy. He looked her in the eyes as she stood up and gave a smile that wasn't shy, but wasn't really outward. It was a little half-smile that screamed "nice guy" and made you feel completely comfortable talking to him. With one gentle grin, he made people think he was the man you could tell all your secrets too and walk away knowing nobody but him knew.

"Buffy Summers." Buffy said. She smiled her half-smile, but it didn't have the same effect.

"Been dying to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Faith. Seems she has quite the crush on you." There he goes again, a comment that would have left most people speechless felt completely casual in his speech. Like it was natural for him to be talking about orientation with someone he's just met. Buffy wanted to hate him so badly. She wanted to meet him and find any reason to scrutinize him. She wanted a good solid reason to hate his guts and everything about him, but somehow she liked him. Not in a loving way, but she liked him as a confident. Someone to trust, to let in.

"I would hope so. She's my girlfriend." Buffy felt no reason to lie to this guy. She was sure that he would understand.

"Very hot." He commented. He even said it with a wink, and still it didn't feel dirty or crude. He was extremely charismatic, but was a double threat because he knew how to use that charisma. She could see why Faith had no horrible feelings about kissing the guy. Charming is his game.

"So what are we doing here? Where are we going, Faithy?" He winked at Buffy again before stepping back to look at the three girls. Cordelia leered at him longingly. She just met the guy and was already so interested in him it was sickening. It was like Wesley all over again.

"We're leaving in an hour. Until then, we're gonna sort through everything and get everything in order. We know this guy is smart, so we can assume he has informants all over. Probably has lots of people working for a pretty penny in L.A., prowling the area for any intel on us by now. We're gonna get the hell out of here with as little a trail as possible." Faith looked them over once more. "B, gimme a plan." Buffy was the go-to for plans. Faith was surprised she had gotten this far on her own. Mostly a gut feeling, although the plans were a bit rash.

"So, I was thinking Faith and I can sort through the stuff about us and Angel. Jack can go through the red dotted people and fill us in on anyone and everything he knows about. Cordelia is going to figure out a route to L.A. that avoids as many towns as possible. The less of a trail the better. We have to work fast too, I want us on the road before sun down." Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat. Everything seemed to be falling in place.

"Gotcha. I'm just gonna use the restroom first." Jack said, ducking out to the bathroom in the room.

As soon as the door shut, Buffy turned to Faith and said, "Faithy?"


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Notes: It's definitely a reality check for Buffy and Faith's relationship. They aren't as normal as they thought they were, and all they needed was someone blunt enough to point out the problems.

XOXOXOX

Buffy touched the glossy picture lightly. Her hand ran over the memory as if it were precious as gold. It was one of the only times there was a foot or two of snow on the ground in Sunnydale, California. It's called Sunnydale for a reason. The picture was taken in the park from a considerable distance, so it was a bit grainy, but it obviously Faith laughing at Buffy as she helped her up out of the snow. She remembered that they were talking about driving and snow, when all of a sudden, Buffy had hit a slick patch of ice and fell backwards. Her shoes were much higher end than Faith's boots, so they had poor traction. Before Buffy could feel the cool snow against her back, Faith's reflexes kicked in and she caught Buffy by the arm. Buffy put her other arm back into the snow regardless, but didn't fall as far in as she thought she would.

"Thanks, Fay." Buffy breathed, "Pull me up?"

"Nah, I like you just hanging there, B." Faith smirked as she saw Buffy's shoes sliding forward on the ice.

"Faith, come on." Buffy whined.

"Alright." Faith laughed as she pulled Buffy up.

And click. They photo was taken... by some vampire that raised an army to hunt them. Buffy flipped the photo over and stood up, facing away from the door to outside. She looked at the light filtering in through the blinds. One last morning in Santa Barbara, and then it was on the road. The road to L.A., the road to hell. Buffy felt her arms yanked behind her back and something cold snapped on to her wrists.

"You're under arrest." A voice said from behind her. The person with that voice then kissed Buffy's neck and continued, "You have to right to remain silent, but I know you won't, B."

"Mmm... Faith." Buffy said, seeing the leather clad figure step out in front of her with a comfortable grin on her face. Buffy moved her wrists against the restraints behind her. "With handcuffs?" They were obviously fake, Buffy could literally feel the plastic although the metallic paint covers it quite nicely. "They were two bucks at the costume store, so I thought you'd look cute with them on." Faith grinned and she flopped onto the bed, setting up the pillows so she could sit with her back against the headboard and look at Buffy.

"Cute?" Buffy asked, tugging on the surprisingly strong plastic. Faith gave a low chuckle, "Yeah, with your arms held back it makes your chest stick out more." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about sex, Faith."

Faith smiled at Buffy in almost a fakely sincere way. "Of course. Everything's about sex with you." Another sigh and eyeroll from Buffy. She walked towards the bed Faith was laying on. The sleeping bag Cordelia had occupied last night was on the other side of the bed. That was an interesting night. "So are you gonna take em' off?" Buffy raised an eyebrow. Faith looked up and down Buffy's body, doing a full vertical scan, and giving a pensive look.

"And how do I do that?" Faith asked, kicking her feet off the side of the bed and standing up in front of Buffy, adding to the proximity. Buffy looked up into the brunette's face. Her deep red lipstick and brown eyes making Buffy want to stare.

"You need the key." Buffy said, playing along with whatever game Faith was playing. Faith looked at Buffy with fake surprise. "Like this?" She said, opening her hand to reveal the key, "I'd give it to you, but I'm thinking I'll have to be the one to take the cuffs off." A devious smile stole it's way across Faith's lips. Buffy leaned onto one foot with a sigh. "Then do it." Faith let the grin curl. "On one condition, Buffy."

"And that condition would be?" Buffy knew the game, or she learned it just now, one way or the other didn't matter.

"Kiss me." Faith said in an almost whisper. Buffy cocked her head and furrowed her brow, "That's it?" Faith nodded. "Gotta make it good, though, B." The 'B' was almost an after thought in that phrase. Buffy willingly complied. She rose up a bit and then leaned over to claim Faith's lips. There was an instant connection. Like when a magnet pulls another magnet in and snaps together. Like the world meant for it to be that way. Buffy ran her tongue teasingly across Faith's lower lip. Faith's lips parted, and they're tongues pressed against each other. They feeling of liveliness and an explosion of passion hit the like an earthquake. Earthquakes don't last too long though, and in this case, it was cut short by someone opening the door.

"Faith do you-" Cordelia for at least the fifth time, barged in on them in an intimate position. They specifically told her to go out and not come back for a while at one point last night, but Cordelia thinks a while is a few minutes, so she walked in on them _really_ intimate, but that was the last time Buffy and Faith tried anything like that again. This time however, it looked stranger that it really was. The kiss was broken and Faith was holding a key in the air, resting her forehead on Buffy's forehead, and Buffy had her arms behind her back, the cheap toy handcuffs still attached to her wrists.

"Cor-" Buffy began. "I don't want to know." Cordelia cut in, "Just fix it and get ready to go while I find the hairspray. Cordelia looked and Faith expectantly and Faith nodded towards the bathroom, which was where Cordelia headed. Buffy laughed and turned around so Faith could unlock the cuffs. Once they were off, Faith put them in her bag.

"You're keeping them?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Yeah, we could use em' some other time." Faith smirked into the bag.

"Kinky." Buffy commented as she got out her bag and double-checked everything. They had some items in between the two bags they would reach for to put in, sorting out whose clothes was whose. (Though it didn't much matter, seeing as they often found one another wearing their clothes).

"What can I say? I like to keep you guessin'," Faith reached for something at the same time as Buffy and their hands connected. Usually, this would just be brushed off as an accident, but Faith took Buffy's hand and turned to look at the blonde. She gave a reassuring smile. "It's gonna be fine."

They were both afraid to go to L.A... moreover, they didn't feel too comfortable now that Cordelia has no ride anymore and will be with Jack in the backseat of Faith's precious car.

"Aw, how sweet." Cordelia said in a condescending tone, "The slayers are doing something romantic and they still have their clothes on." Cordelia was an A-lister bitch. She wasted no moment that she could use to torture the people that once tortured her.

"Way to be a bitch." Faith said, releasing her partner's hand, "We're just a normal couple... but we fight vamps."

"Just a normal couple?" Cordelia said, wide eyed at Faith's ignorance. "Reality check, you two are far from a normal couple, even if you didn't fight vamps. I've seen you two, it's like the dark, disturbing things are normal to you. You're pinning each other against the sides of mausoleums and kissing on top of someone's grave. You literally lick the blood out of each other's cuts. You two never have that tenderness, it's all anger and emotions and adrenaline. Nothing more!"

"Cordelia." Buffy stated.

"No, let her go, B." Faith said in Buffy's ear.

"Okay..." Buffy said hesitantly.

"And that right there! You just do whatever she says like she's some god. I have never seen you let someone else tell you what to do, but Giles. Seriously. I walk in and Buffy's got handcuffs on? It's not exactly normal. You kill creatures, then kiss just to see how long you can go without breathing. It's like some sort of sadistic game to you two. Especially Faith." Cordelia pointed to the brunette, then locked eyes with Buffy, "She taunts you, teases you, messes with you, pushes you around, and you take that crap from her. In fact, you get off on it. I mean, you've screwed a dead vampire, and Faith has screwed every man, and half the women of Sunnydale. Nothing will ever be normal for you. You two are creatures of the night, getting off on the hunt and the kill, hiking your skirts up on gravestones, whatever level of compassion you think is there, is in your minds. You should have left it in the dark where it belongs." Cordelia shook her head and walked off, thoroughly impressed with her perfromance. Buffy and Faith felt miserable. Mostly because of the hurtfulness of Cordelia's words, but more because she was right about a lot of things.

XOXOXOX

Author's Notes: Sorry for the shortness, I meant to write more, but really had no good place to leave off, so this will tide you over.


	14. Chapter 14

Cordelia stood outside the motel room, leaning against Faith's car. She stared out at the uniform motels with cars parked in front of them. She kicked at the ground, but it didn't make her feel any different. She wanted to feel fine about what she had said. It was the truth, but she felt horrible. She liked Buffy from the moment she met her, but she was hanging with the losers. She wasn't nice to Buffy, but they were friends. She owed Buffy her life, actually, she owed her a lot of lives. Buffy saved her, even though Cordelia treated her so poorly.

The two Slayers had been 'packing' for 20 minutes and Jack went out to get food. Cordelia let the feelings fester inside of her. She had reasons to hate Faith. Faith decked her once, nearly got her killed, and wasn't afraid of her. The social status didn't apply to Faith. Looking back, Faith simply understood that the world doesn't work like high school. Cordelia found that out the hard way.

Cordelia heard the door to the motel room open, but didn't bother to look up to see who it was. She didn't particular care. She was braced to get hit in the head, though. Cordelia's eyes were scrunched shut, but she felt the footsteps stop beside her. She knew the other person was leaning up against the side of the car next to her. After a moment, Cordelia opened her eyes and looked to see who it was.

Faith was leaned there, looking a bit upset. Faith didn't say a word, just stared off at the dull scene Cordelia was viewing minutes ago.

"Faith?" Cordelia squeaked, almost afraid to speak. Faith remained silent for a moment. The cool air was dry and uncharacteristic of California, and even though there was road nearby, the silence was thick in the air, broken only by the whisper of breezes.

"You're right." Faith said almost somberly. Faith's hair was drifting lightly in the wind, so she was constantly tucking it back behind her ears or moving it off her face. "We're not normal. We're messed up... but somehow, we don't see it."

"It's because you love her, you don't see any flaws in her." Cordelia surprised herself with those words. They felt almost like good advice. Faith was taking time before responding, like she was piecing together exactly what she wanted to say very carefully.

"I love her... I'm in love with her... She loves me... But she's not in love with me." Faith's words were calm, composed, and somewhat poetic. Faith wanted to cry though. She would always love that girl no matter what, but for some reason Buffy felt so out of reach, like she wasn't all there.

"Faith... Sometimes you think people love you, but they're so quick to forget what you've given up to be with them." Xander. Cordelia put her tongue in the side of her mouth. She knew what it felt like. Faith looked down at the pavement and refused to accept anything. Buffy had left to go on this trip with her, but maybe it was just another rash decision.

"Let's go." Faith said, turning to leave Cordelia.

XOXOXOX

The trip was long, but not completely unenjoyable. Buffy and Cordelia reminisced about high school for an hour. Faith was only able to jump in for a short time during the talk of their senior year. Faith never attended, but she may as well have with how much she was at that school. She knew every way in and out of that school, but she wasn't really old enough to stick out. She blended in most of the time. She was even assigned detention one time by a hall monitor, which she blew off.

Faith had heard about Buffy's first semester of college already, but it was nice to hear the censored version she told to Cordelia. Then it was Cordelia's turn. Buffy never did get to hear the story of she started working for Angel.

"So I'm kinda a big name actress so I'm at this big name party, right?" Cordelia was telling mostly the truth.

"Sure." Buffy said, sprinkling just enough sarcasm on the statement. Faith glanced back at Jack, who had been asleep since the whole thing started. How did he The trip was long, but not completely un-enjoyable. Buffy and Cordelia reminisced about high school for an hour. Faith was only able to jump in for a short time during the talk of their senior year. Faith never attended, but she may as well have with how much she was at that school. She knew every way in and out of that school, but she wasn't really old enough to stick out. She blended in most of the time. She was even assigned detention one time by a hall monitor, which she blew off.

Faith had heard about Buffy's first semester of college already, but it was nice to hear the censored version she told to Cordelia. Then it was Cordelia's turn. Buffy never did get to hear the story of she started working for Angel.

"So I'm kinda a big name actress so I'm at this big name party, right?" Cordelia was telling mostly the truth.

"Sure." Buffy said, sprinkling just enough sarcasm on the statement. Faith glanced back at Jack, who had been asleep since the whole thing started. How did he be hero. Faith knew that wasn't the reason she hated him. She hated him because he hurt Buffy so many different times in so many different ways. It was something she couldn't stand. Angel was the thing that took Buffy away from her. Her anger however, would have to be subdued though. She would lose whatever trust she had built back up with Buffy if her anger got the better of her when they met Angel.

"So I say that he's going to need someone to organize stuff, and he hired me." Cordelia finished. Faith checked the clock, it had been three hours. They'd have to stop for lunch soon. Cordelia had done surprisingly well choosing the route, it took them past a town at about one in the afternoon, then another one around six or seven. The road was pretty open, but not deserted, they were always near at least one or two other cars. None of which have been tailing them.

"Fay." Buffy said, dragging Faith away from her idle thoughts. "Hm?" She responded.

"Stay in the left lane." Buffy said, consulting the map and the directions given to her by Cordelia.

"Is this the scenic route? I think I see apple and lemon trees." Faith picked at her companion's demanding tone, replying with a joke as always. Buffy giggled, "Maybe some kid's gonna try and sell you lemonade." Buffy snickered. Faith immediately Burst into laughter, trying hard, not to swerve. They were both laughing almost hysterically.

"Did I miss something?" Cordelia asked. Buffy slowed down her laughter and sniffled, trying to compose herself. Faith took a bit longer, but got control back.

"Okay, so Faith and I were chasing some vampires after we raided a nest. The vampires were on fire so they were running really fast and Faith was ahead of me, but we turned the corner and Faith nearly tripped over this like 10 year old kid that was selling lemonade with his brother. How old do you think he was?" Buffy turned to Faith.

"Oh, 15 maybe?" She ran through her memory carefully. Buffy nodded and continued, "So Faith pushes this kid over, but he's trying to ask her to buy lemonade. He's like grabbing her leg and trying to sell her this drink. The vampires are long gone, but Faith is trying to get away from this kid. I grab her hand and pull her off this poor little guy, and I say 'Come on, babe. We lost em' So she gets off him and his older brother says, 'Babe? But she doesn't have a dick.' " Cordelia stifled a laugh, but Faith heard Jack snort in the back. Jack had just woken up, mostly out of hunger.

"She left out the next part." Faith said, even though she knew why, "I looked at the guy and said 'I don't need one to make her scream.' and left." This made Cordelia give a muffled laugh, and Jack was laughing too. Buffy was kind of red in the face, but was laughing a bit also.

Buffy took a deep breath, and the moment seemed to slow. She didn't know why, but it felt almost like she was back home, with Willow and Xander, and of course Faith next to her. They were just a band of misfits thrown together by a common foe. Of course, Jack was no Xander, and Cordelia was no Willow. They were straight from a comic book, each of them a very distinct character. Two of them were dating, but nobody was exactly happy with each other at the time. Except for this moment, when they could almost pass as friends. Yet, Buffy missed Xander and Willow, but she would go back before the next semester, and Riley was away on Adam's trail. Everything would be perfect... Right?

"B." Faith's voice gently roused Buffy from the thoughts that were pulsing in her mind. The car was stopped. Cordelia and Jack were out. Faith picked up Buffy's hand. "You all right?"

"I've got you don't I?" Buffy and Faith both smiled and leaned in, kissing lightly before Faith got out, walking away from the car.

XOXOXOX

Faith sat down at the table while Jack and Buffy were gathering the food from the fast food line. Faith gripped the soda, sucking the sugary beverage from the straw. Cordelia leaned back in the booth across from her. Faith tapped her fingers on the table. So much was going wrong. Why couldn't Buffy just tell her what was wrong? She acted like they didn't have anything to work out. That was definitely not true. Buffy was treating their relationship like it was pre-coma. Faith didn't want that relationship. She wanted to be able to hold Buffy and explain how she felt about everything. That feeling was almost shocking to Faith. So much about her was different after the coma. She truly felt the experience made her realize how short life was, and how easily it can be destroyed and cut off at any moment. Maybe that's why she wanted more meaning in their relationship. She was in love, and was going to waste this time.

As soon as Buffy came back, Faith stood up.

"Hungry, Fay?" Buffy joked, reading off everyone's orders as she put them in front of their respective orderers. Jack sat down next to Cordelia, who was still desperately trying to hit on him, though it wasn't working well.

Buffy turned to Faith, motioning for her to get in the booth, but out of no where, Faith grabbed Buffy's shoulders and kissed her. The kiss was more desperate than anything. After a moment, they pulled away and Buffy put a confused look on her face.

"Not that I didn't like it," She said, "But what was that for?"

"Assurance." Faith said, although the kiss didn't make her feel any better... in fact she felt worse.

She looked up, and saw Jack staring straight back at her, their eyes locking.

XOXOXOX

Author's Notes: Okay, so there's a little bit of an explaination to make you guys happy. I guess it wasn't really the happiness you were looking for, but sue me. Seriously, relationships can't be perfect. Don't worry, it does get better... but Faith isn't done fucking stuff up yet.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Notes: Sorry I've been taking so long... Let's just say there once was an apartment, then there were raccoons... now I have a new apartment. Damn raccoons.

XOXOXOX

Faith's fingers thrummed against the wheel as the thick blackness surrounded the areas not lit up by the headlights of the car. She could almost see the lights of L.A. int the distance, but it could just be another town. It was a straight run on this road until they hit L.A., so she had pretty much no need to check the map. She wouldn't be able to anyways since Buffy was clutching it in her hands as she slept peacefully in the passenger seat. There was no way Faith could disturb her.

Her fingers were incessant with the tapping. She hadn't had any coffee or soda for a while; it was simply natural adrenaline that coursed through her veins at night. Night meaning it was nearly one thirty A.M. For a Slayer, every night was another chance to die. It was hard to sleep sometimes. Especially before she and Buffy had had anything together. Most of the time, She had just slept during the day. It made things easier for her as a Slayer.

Night was so perfect. Nobody was really in a rush, and there were less people to talk to. Less people that cared about you or anything at all were walking the streets. Basically, there were less people all together. That wasn't why she loved it so much, though. She was more in love with the cool crispness of night. The serenity that comes with everyone else being asleep and the world was at rest. Not everything was dormant, but most of it was. It gave her time to think, and time to do the thing that made her feel alive: fight.

"You still up?" Came a voice from the back of the car. For a second, Faith froze up. She quickly realized it was Jack, and relaxed once more. The adrenaline from that moment ebbed away through her fingers, but she still under control.

"I kinda have to be awake to drive." She said. She looked in the mirror to see that Cordelia was comfortably snoozing. Jack looked comfortable, but his foot was tapping silently, and she knew his mind was whirring although he remained somewhat expressionless. He smiled and met her eyes in the mirror. His gaze felt intense, even though his eyes were soft. "I could drive for you if you want, Faithy. You look like you could use some sleep."

"I couldn't sleep if I wanted to." She looked away from the mirror, it almost felt strange to look at him. It was that gravitational pull. The same one that she feels with Buffy. She glanced over at Buffy and kept her voice low, "It's kind of a Slayer thing."

"Why don't you explain this Slayer business to me?" He said, moving his legs slightly, so as not to rouse Cordelia.

"Well, So it's supposed to be that there's one Slayer. It's always a girl, and she has amazing speed, strength, reflexes, eyesight, and can take a lot of punishment then heal up quickly. So she's pretty damn unbeatable, but not unkillable. Most of us don't live to be thirty. Once one dies, one of the hundreds of potentials is called to be the Slayer. For about three years, Buffy was the only one." Faith summarized. She fell silent for a moment. "That's where you come in?" Jack asked.

"Well, she died. Kind of. Then she came back, and during that time when she was dead, I was called. Then, some things happened that forced me to leave and I went to find the famous Buffy Summers. That took me to Sunnydale, and the rest is history." Faith saw a sign that signaled their proximity to L.A she felt a bit of relief knowing that it wouldn't be long since she got back.

"Some very sexy history?" He added, smirking and leaning back.

"Why do you keep bringing that up?" Faith said, watching as more and more buildings began to show up.

"It's not every day you meet two hot women that are very... involved in each other." He said. His tone was even, almost joking. He reminded her of Xander a bit, but they were so very different that the comparison slipped from her mind.

"We're hot?" She replied with a snort. Faith never thought highly of herself. She didn't have super low self-esteem, but she had insecurities like everyone.

"So, you don't think she's hot?" He gestured towards Buffy. Faith was never one to get sappy. She just wasn't that type of girl. She showed her affection in other ways. Mostly, she believed that actions speak louder than words. Every now and then, she lets her feelings slip and just spills her thoughts out to somebody she trusted, which was usually Buffy. This was one of those rare moments.

"Of course I think she's hot. She's the sexiest girl I know, but she's more than that. She's smart, she's funny, and she kicks ass. She's so perfect, I have no idea why the hell I even deserve her." Faith paused, feeling so odd from the fuzziness of the situation. "I'd die for her."

Another sign rolled past marking their proximity to L.A. Faith saw a gas station and pulled in.

"I'll get it." Jack said, opening the door and jumping out into the cool night air to pump the gas. Faith sat back against the seat, debating on whether or not to wake up Buffy. Faith decided that they were close enough. Buffy ought to be awake when they got into the city. Faith turned to her side and put up the divider between the front seats. She crawled the couple of inches to where Buffy was sleeping. She brought her lips to Buffy's cheek, rousing the girl gently. She turned to Buffy's ear and whispered, "Wake up, B. You don't want to miss the view."

Buffy awoke softly, much to Faith's relief. Last time, she shot up and left a nasty bruise on Faith's leg in the scuffle. Buffy's eyes opened to meet Faith's signature grin. "It's a great view." She mumbled, drifting up until they were almost sitting up.

"I meant the city." Faith said, wiping hair away from Buffy's face. "Are you ready forL.A.?"

Buffy shifted in the seat the two were sharing, "I don't know. I haven't seen Angel in so long, it's going to be weird." Faith sighed, and sat back, letting Buffy move out from underneath her so the two weren't quite so entangled.

"I don't give a damn about Angel, what about the city?Veniceboardwalk, babe!" Faith chuckled. She was desperate to lighten the mood. She didn't want Buffy to go into such an amazing city stressed and filled with anxiety. She nudged Buffy with her shoulder and the blonde laughed nervously. "Come on, B! Universal Studios and some of the best bars around. Not to mention all the sand. That's perfect! We'll go to beach." Faith laughed.

"You just want me to wear that bikini again." Buffy accused playfully. "Probably." Faith's comment was cut off by something. Something she didn't understand. One moment was perfectly fine, then the next was silent. Silent, but happy. In the proceeding moment, the whole world went to hell. Faith wasn't sure what happened, and neither did Buffy. They were torn apart by the force of something loud. Faith felt her back slammed against the concrete of the paved road. There were flames devouring the gas station, and she could only hear muffled screams and bangs. Her vision was foggy and she knew there was blood on the ground. Her blood. On the ground and on her body. She felt pain searing across various parts of her body and she could have cared less. All she was thinking about was Buffy. She stumbled through the wreckage, the possibilities not registering in her mind as to what had happened.

After agonizing moments, she found Buffy only half conscious on the ground. Faith collapsed next to her and every part of her body screamed with hurt. She touched Buffy and felt the blood on her body too. She turned to look at the car, and her heart stopped. A horrific crowd were glaring the Slayers down. Vampires. A whole fucking army of vampires… and they looked pissed.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Notes: I thought maybe I should give you this one to make up for time I was unable to write. Once again, sorry and don't forget to review.\

XOXOXOX

"Buffy… please wake up… come on… B…" The words drifted into Buffy's mind, pulling her back to consciousness. At first, she only smelled smoke, and had blurry, smoke filled images of orange and green and black filling her vision. Her vision sharpened and Faith came into focus. The older girl was collapsed next to her against the brick wall of an alleyway. She was breathing heavily, and there was blood. So much blood stained the girl's clothes and skin.

At that moment, feeling returned to Buffy's body and she wanted to scream. A sudden rush of pain burned across her body in patches along her skin. She jolted away from the wall, sitting straight up. She tried to scream, but choked on the smoke so only gaspy noises flitted from her mouth. Faith sat up and held Buffy, trying to get her to relax.

"Buffy, calm down. Breathe, it's all fine. We're okay now. I'm so glad you're alive." And millions of other comforting words came from a raspy Faith. Buffy fell back against the wall and took some deep breathes. The pain was already numbing to dull throbs across her body. It hurt like hell, but at least it wasn't the ninth level of anymore. She looked up to see flames towering in the sky a block away over a low building. She saw Cordelia lying unconscious against the wall across from the Slayers. It didn't even cross her mind that Jack was missing.

She leaned against Faith. Faith went to put her arms around Buffy, but the movement was far too painful. "I thought I lost you, B… I started getting all emotional. See what you do to me?" Buffy chuckled hoarsely, feeling the burning of her raw throat. What happened? All she remembered was waking up in the car, having a short conversation with Faith, and then she was here. "Are you okay?" Faith asked. Good question. Buffy felt aches, burns, and an assortment of other unpleasant feelings, but okay wasn't one of them.

"I'm alive, but that's about it." Buffy replied. Her voice felt like sandpaper across her throat. "What happened?"

"I think there was an explosion. Probably planned by the vampires." Faith took a moment and coughed. "Vampires?" Buffy asked. Faith nodded. "Jack told me to take you and run. Cordelia followed, but passed out from exhaustion once we got here. Jack was attempting to fight some off, but there were so many that he's probably…" The last word never made its way out of Faith's mouth. There was so much death in this world, and the Slayers had seen so much of it. They had seen the people closest to them ripped away so abruptly from this world that death had become something so common. Death was almost a necessity, but when it came to the people they were trying to protect, the Slayers fell short too often.

"What happens now?" Buffy looked at Faith expectantly, as if she knew the answer. Faith shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but fell silent when footsteps became audible. They were fast paced, and were growing louder. If it was a vampire, the two might be able to take him, but if it was more than one, then they're toast. A figure came into sight, but as soon as it got close, they recognized the form as Jack. When he saw the girls, he nearly collapsed on the ground. Instead, he fell to his knees and took a deep breath. He continued to pant and breathe heavily as he spoke, "I got away." He said, taking another breath, and then falling against the wall next to Cordelia.

They all sat in awkward silence for a few moments as they're battered and beaten bodies rested. They were all alive, that's what mattered the most. Everyone's mind was wheeling in confusion from the events. Everyone except Cordelia, that was. All their clothes were gone. All their stakes were ashes floating in the wind. All they had now was each other and the money in their pockets. Faith touched her side, and to her disappointment, the knife Buffy had given her wasn't there. She hadn't really expected it to be there, but she could always hope. What were they going to do now? Stranded in the suburbs ofL. an army of vampires roaming the streets with the smell of Slayer blood leading them on was not a great way to spend semester break.

At that moment, a great thought occurred to Buffy. "Angel." She proclaimed with glee, searching her pockets hurriedly. "Can I not think about him?" Faith groaned beside her. "Shut up." Buffy ordered, pulling out her phone. Cell phones weren't the most reliable. The networks were barely considered 2G, and phones were expensive. Buffy could barely afford to keep her phone, even with her mom helping to pay for it. Buffy found Angel's number in the contacts and called him. The ringing was almost painful to listen to as she waited for him to pick up.

_"Buffy?"_ Angel said.

"Yeah. It's me. Listen, we really need some help."

_"You two get lost?"_

"Not exactly. We're behind some place called Mr. Gyro's. We ran into a vampire problem, and we need you to come get us."

_"I think I know where that's at. You don't sound good, are you guys okay?"_

"No. Please, just hurry."

_"Okay, stay put." _

The line went dead, and Buffy put the phone in her pocket. She looked at Faith, who's eyes were a comfort food to Buffy.

"We're gonna be okay." Faith whispered. Buffy nodded, but she didn't believe it. She had no idea what was going to happen. The flames were burning lower, but the smell of smoke and blood filled the air. The distant wail of sirens echoed in the distance. Buffy put her head on Faith's shoulder and sighed. This was no way to spend semester vacation, but at least she was spending it with Faith. Buffy hadn't thought about what was going to happen when she got back. Aside from the scolding and upset authority figures and friends, what would happen to Faith? Faith wouldn't be able to stay there. Maybe they could find some way to make it work.

"So how'd you manage to get away?" Faith asked Jack. Her voice sounded a little less gravely, and her breathing was steady now, so she must be feeling better. Jack shrugged, "I only killed four or five before the cops showed up. They didn't last long, but it gave me enough time to duck and run." He smiled, "I didn't really have a plan, though."

All of a sudden, Jack became hushed as the sound of footsteps rapidly approached the group. A vampire lunged out of the shadows, directly at Buffy. Buffy's reaction time was severely slowed by the damage. Jack, however, had been furthest away from the explosion. He threw himself in front of Buffy, taking a tackle from the vampire. He made a whiny gasp as he hit the pavement hard. He sucked in the cry of pain and kicked the vampire against the brick of the wall away from the Slayers. He took a sharp breath in as he stood up; gripping the only stake he had had with him during the explosion in his hand tightly. He took a punch to the chest, but slammed the stake into the vampire's heart.

Jack smirked before collapsing to the ground.

"Jack, are you okay?" Faith said, forcing herself towards him. The movement was extremely painful, but she managed to pull Jack against the wall. He nodded, biting his lip and gripping his shoulder, holding it in a comfortable position the muscles refused to hold on their own. "You saved my life twice…?" Buffy asked disbelievingly. He smiled in a contempt fashion. "I'm not all bad." He replied.

"There's no way I could ever repay you for what you've done for us." Faith said, holding his shoulder up so his arm could rest for a minute. "In any other situation, I wouldn't turn that offer down from a woman like you, but seeing as I'm fucked right now, I'll just groan like a wimp."

The conscious ones of the group did just that for the next ten minutes. They groaned, moaned, and whined. Occasionally they complained about their various injuries. After those ten minutes, Faith changed the subject.

"B, let's stop fighting." Faith said, "This kinda reminded me that life is short. Especially for me and you, so getting upset all the time is not the answer. We should just work things out and move on instead of doing this damn avoiding the subject shit." Buffy nodded, she agreed 100%.

"If you stop kissing random guys and being unapproachable, then I won't try to make this relationship what it was before." Buffy proposed. Faith laughed lightly under her breath. "Deal." Faith said, turning to look Buffy in the eyes. Buffy craned her neck and kissed Faith lightly.

"Buffy?" Angel called.


	17. Chapter 17

Everything hurt. Faith's legs burned with the exhaustion of use, screaming for rest, and the soles of her feet ached with throbbing pain. She felt the scraps on her knee sting as the rubbed against her jeans. She felt the gash on her arm bleed a red patch into her shirt that had been torn and shredded. The muscles were begging for release in every part of her body and sweat was making her clothes cling uncomfortably, but she kept running. All she could do was force herself to keep going. She saw the edge of the building fast approaching and prepared for the leap. If she made it over the gap, everything would fall perfectly in to place.

She coiled her legs and launched herself off that edge. The air rushed past her face and she looked up at her destination. The sun was rising and outlined Buffy's figure. Buffy's hand was outstretched and she was yelling something, but the blood pounding in Faith's ears covered it. Faith reached out to grab her hand, and felt Buffy's fingertips on her own. She felt the traction and then she was falling. Buffy shot away from her into the sky, and Faith could hear her screaming her name over the rushing blood.

She felt her body grow numb for a moment, and she didn't want to scream. She only wanted to fall. In those few seconds of freefall, she was fine with hitting the ground, because she fought the battles and knew she'd have to die one day or another, so why not today? Then she hit the ground.

XOXOXOX

Faith opened her eyes, but didn't feel anything. She didn't even have a sense of body. She saw a roof littered with broken bodies and glass. She saw Angel, Jack, and Buffy fighting, but didn't feel herself.

Maybe she's a ghost. Maybe she's dreaming.

Buffy kicked the vampire off the edge of the building and doubled over in exhaustion. She looked up and locked eyes with Faith. Something was shouted, but Faith couldn't hear it, she only saw Buffy running towards her.

Buffy reached out and grabbed Faith's shoulders and Faith felt all of that pain come coursing back through her. She shuddered and rolled to her side, ready to vomit, but it never came. Faith gasped in her breaths because she's pretty sure a rib or two is broken. She had no idea how she was alive. She clutched at the side of the air vent as she rode the waves of pain before they dulled into throbbing spots of discomfort.

"Faith, you're alive!" Buffy exclaimed, gently helping her sit back up. Faith nodded in response, still breathing too hard to respond. "I thought you were dead, for sure." Faith gave a very proud smile back to Buffy.

"I'm stubborn like that." Faith coughed out.

"Buffy, I count fifty." Angel reported, walking over to where the two girls were sitting. He squatted down to look at Faith, but didn't say anything, he merely nodded and smiled at her.

"That's it? This guys made it sound like he had millions." Buffy puzzled. It was a pretty hefty number in vampires, seeing as they don't always cooperate, so getting fifty together was quite a feat. Angel opened his mouth to speak, but Jack yelled from across the roof at them.

Angel and Buffy immediately leapt up to meet the vampires that had managed to make their way up the fire escape. Faith shut her eyes, she couldn't remember what had happened after the fall… Did she ever hit the ground? She shook the cloudy memories and forced her body up. It hurt like hell, but she wasn't going to sit by and not get in on the fight. Plus, Slayer healing was already kicking in, so she would be kicking in no time. She made her way over to Buffy, finding that her left leg and arm hurt along with her chest and head, but the rest of her body was doing pretty well. She didn't stop to ponder the oddity, but instead moved into the familiar zone of fighting.

She took out a few vamps with only minor pain, and the next ones gave her trouble, but she was still roughing through it. Buffy caught Faith out of the corner of her eyes and tried to wave her off, but was overwhelmed by some vampires. After a little while, Faith was really feeling a strain on everything. She had a vamp cornered near the side of the building, where she made a poor decision to do a high kick. She kicked the guy square in the chest, and he toppled over the edge. Faith too, almost fell off the edge. Her foot never caught traction on the ground and she fell to her hands and knees, staring over the edge, completely spent.

The 'army' had thinned down, but all at once, the vampires stopped. There were no more on the fire escape, but there had to be more. Buffy and Angel were yelling something, and Cordelia was shaking in one corner, also exhausted.

"Show time." A familiar voice said from behind Faith, before grabbing her by the hair and yanking her up. He circled an arm around her chest, and she weakly grabbed at his arm, but was far too weak to do anything. She was pulled to her feet, and a knife came to rest on her throat.

Buffy spun around and saw that vampire she had let get away. He was standing in the corner of the room proudly, not moving. Buffy took a step forward, but before she could launch herself towards him, a voice stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that." Jack said coldly, "Unless you want Faithy here to bite it." Buffy froze when she saw him holding Faith with a knife to her throat. Faith looked like she had walked out of a war zone. She shouldn't have tried to fight after that fall. If she hadn't wasted energy fighting, he wouldn't have had an advantage on her, that backstabber. All the blood drained to Buffy's toes. If she had stopped Faith, this wouldn't be happening.

"Put the knife down, traitor." Buffy's bold speech even surprised her.

"Don't think so." He snickered, "Why don't you put the stakes down?" Buffy hesitated for a moment, then dropped the stake to the ground. Cordelia did the same, and after a moment of thought, Angel did too.

"He's just going to kill you too, B." Faith croaked. Jack pressed the tip of the knife harder into Faith's neck; it didn't break the skin, but she fell silent at the feeling.

"Don't hurt her or I swear I'll kill you." Buffy snarled at him. Faith looked up at the bloodlust in Buffy's eyes. Buffy was usually better with restraint and control that she was, but Faith felt like she was handling this better. Buffy should know that he wants to get her upset and angry, yet she's falling straight into the poorly disguised pitfall.

"Oh, like this?" He pulled the knife up and cut it down Faith's cheek, leaving a long thin red line of blood. Faith bit her tongue and didn't make any noise at all while he did it. She let out a long breath when she felt the knife drop down to her neck again. Buffy was visibly shaking. "Get down on the ground." He ordered.

Buffy glared at him for a long moment, before tossing a glance behind her to Angel. He nodded in agreement and dropped to his hands and knees. He was smiling as he went though, which confused Faith. What the hell did he have to smile about? Cordelia and Buffy were soon down too. Jack walked towards them, pulling Faith along.

"You know, B," He mimicked Faith's nickname for the girl with a condescending tone, "You should have listened to your girlfriend." Suddenly, He wasn't there anymore. Faith was staring down at Buffy, but she didn't feel Jack behind her anymore. Then she felt the knife sink into the side of her back. Faith gasped and fell down on the roof in front of Buffy. Buffy stared in shock at Faith, their eyes locking. Angel leapt forward towards Jack and the vampire while Cordelia fended off the few who managed to get on the roof. Buffy was frozen in spot as she look into Faith's eyes.

"Faith…" Buffy breathed, hardly able to talk, "Faith, please… be okay. This isn't-This can't be happening. Faith?"

Faith looked up and smiled, "B." She said. Buffy leaned over intentively. "Don't be such a wimp." Faith chuckled softly.

"Aw, how sweet." Jack cooed fakely, "I don't get why you two like each other. You're fucking opposites." He brought his foot over Faith's back and pressed the heel of his shoe into the recent stab wound. Faith clenched her eyes shut and whimpered.

"Stop it! You lying back-stabbing bastard." Buffy growled. He dug his heel further into her wound and Faith turned her head down to floor, biting back any screams or whines.

"Hurtful, Buffy. Still doesn't change the fact that I'm going to kill you two. It would be better for both of you than being in this relationship." His grin grew wider and Buffy jumped to her feet, when a metal bar cracked against the side of Jack's head, sending him to the ground a few feet away from Faith. Cordelia was shakily holding the metal in her hands.

"They may not be the perfect couple, but they love each other, and that's all that matters." Cordelia yelled to him. Buffy stepped over Faith, hoping she was still holding on from all the blood loss. She strutted over to where Jack was laying. A bloody gash was open on the side of his head, and he made very little struggle when Buffy pulled him up by the collar of his coat.

"Why'd you do it, Jack?" Buffy sneered.

"It was my idea you know. Not the fake leader guy over there. I paid him." He snickered, "Some buddies of mine thought I couldn't do it. Couldn't kill anything, but I can. I killed lots of people, they did too, but it's kind of like a game. Get the toughest kill. What's tougher than Slayer?"

"That's it? That's the reason I've been through Hell? To win a stupid game?" Buffy seethed.

He laughed at her suggest, throwing his head back. He let the end of the chuckle roll off before looking back into her eyes, "Of course not, I just want to be the best."

Buffy kneed him in the gut, and he stumbled backwards towards the edge of the roof. "What are you, Jack? Demon?"

"It's always a demon, right? Well, here's a secret… I'm human." He coughed and shrugged over in attempt to hold himself up. Buffy punched him square in the jaw, pushing him over the edge of the building to the alleyway below. The same one Faith had fallen down, but unlike Faith, he didn't land in the dumpster.

Angel put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy shrugged him off and dashed back over to where Faith was laying. Cordelia was putting pressure on the wound with her scarf. Buffy knelt down next her and held up Faith's head. Faith opened her eyes to look at Buffy.

"Faith, how are you doing?" Buffy whispered, afraid of her own voice.

"Five by five." Faith said. She reached out and took the collar of Buffy's shirt, not caring that the blood on her hand would ruin Buffy's shirt, which had blood on it anyways, and pulled her close enough so she could kiss the girl.

XOXOXOX

"Well, here we are." Faith said softly, parking the borrowed car in front of Buffy's house, "I've been here so many times that it's almost instinct." She turned to see Buffy remaining motionless in the passenger seat, fixed in that position.

"Faith, what do you think would have happened if you had left after the coma?" Buffy asked coldly, her vision lingering on the house a head of them. Faith studied Buffy carefully as she pondered through the question. She slid over on the seat and unbuckled herself before putting her hand on Buffy's face and turning the blonde to look at her.

"Babe, I would have just shown up at the next apocalypse to sweep you off your feet." Faith assured her, giving grin for good measure. She let her fingers slip down over Buffy's cheek and come to rest over her lips to silence any more questions. She leaned over towards Buffy, removing her hand only moments before replacing them with her lips. She let her hand drift behind the blonde hair and on to the back of Buffy's neck. It was a soft, quick, but powerful kiss. When it was no more, Buffy opened her mouth again to speak, but Faith pulled her into that soft kiss once more, pressing it on longer this time. When that one was over, she made sure she was the first one to speak.

"No, B. I can't stay. I will be back, though. I will never forget you." She whispered against the girl's lips. She brushed her lips over Buffy's one last time, then reached behind her and opened the door behind Buffy. Buffy silent retracted from Faith, and undid her seat belt. Buffy turned to get out, but she felt Faith tap her shoulder. She spun around to see Faith holding out a slightly singed photograph. It was the one of them in the snow on one of the only days of cumulative snowfall in Sunnydale. Buffy took the picture, and stepped out of the car. She shut the door, and watched as Faith sat back into her seat and turned the keys in the ignition. Faith turned and locked eyes with Buffy.

She mouthed the words 'I love you.' Before she pressed her foot down on the gas and started off in to the wide world outside of Sunnydale.

THE END


End file.
